Timewave Reimagined
by Razial
Summary: After fighting a war that they know is lost the remaining Justice League members enact a plan they know is there last hope of stopping the devastation of the world at the hands of Lex Luther, Zod and their allies. Totally new reimagined version of my old story Timewave.
1. Chapter 1

By Razial Timewave Reimagined

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or ideas connected to Smallville or DC comics they belong to DC comics and whoever owns the rights to the TV show.

Pairings: Kal-El/Raya/Diana Chloe/Bart Bruce Wayne/Talia Oliver/Lois Lex/Lana

Notes: This is a complete revamp of my previous Smallville/DC comics cross Timewave, however this time I using some of the new 52 storyline and histories for the DC comics part of my story and I intend to update how far into Smallville this story goes and how it starts although combining the two will be difficult I know. In my earlier story I started during season four, for my new story I am starting it during the actual future before going back to season six of Smallville. The entire story will be different than the previous Timewave, so there will be very little repeats of things from that story and I hope to make the entire story more detailed. There will be no Chloe/Jimmy as I never liked the pairing in the show, so don't be surprised by the fact Chloe is single at the beginning of the show.

Summary: After fighting a war that they know is lost the remaining Justice League members enact a plan they know is there last hope of stopping the devastation of the world at the hands of Lex Luther, Zod and their allies.

+TWI+

+The Future+

(Fortress of Solitude)

Kal-El stood staring at the console that had just reported the loss of their outer line of defences, which meant they had probably lost Cyborg and whatever forces he had managed to rally. Every day they lost more and more people to Luthor's and Zod's armies, time had almost run out for them all. He turned when he felt a soft hand on his back; he was unsurprised to find Diana standing behind him looking concerned.

"It's bad isn't it?" she asked already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it anyway.

"Cyborg and his force are gone, soon our enemy will be at the inner defence line, and we're running out of time Diana" Kal admitted before leaning his head against his lover's.

"I know Kal, but we are not defeated yet" Diana assured him as she clasped his hand in hers. "We still have time to put out last plan into action, Bruce assures me it will work" she told him as she leaned up and kissed him trying to ensure he could feel the love she still felt for him. Kal responded and for the next few minutes they did nothing but kiss one another, finally they stopped and Kal smiled a small half smile.

Diana was one of his remaining reasons for continuing to fight, he had long lost most of the hope he had once had that they would manage to defeat Luthor, Zod and their allies. Diana however had never lost any of her fighting spirit and refused to allow him to be defeated by his own depression and hopelessness. Time and again she had helped him refocus and continue to fight, even as they lost many of their friends and allies over the years. Men and Women he had once thought to be unbeatable, and if that was not bad enough then there was the casualties the rest of the world had suffered once Lex had managed to free Zod and many of his followers from the Phantom Zone due to its failing security. The alliance they had forged had given them both an army with which to wage war on the rest of the planet, at first they had been evenly matched and but with the likes of Doomsday and other monsters from the Zone and from here on Earth the tide had turned against the Justice League and their allies.

Diana knew that for those that remained all that was left was a final last stand, but she intended to fight to the bitter end. She would not fall without taking as many of the enemy with her as she could and she intended to at least try and kill Lex Luthor. She had no intention of becoming a prisoner of war like what had happened to Courtney Whitmore and Mary Marvel; they had been captured during the final battle for New York. From what they had managed to find out both women had been subjected to torture and abuse until their spirit and minds had been broken, leaving nothing but two compliant slaves. The very idea of this sent white hot burning anger through her; she prayed that both had already been relieved of their pains by now even if it felt like a betrayal to do so. There was no way to save them even had they managed to rescue them, not with the damage done to their minds and bodies. The battle for Gotham had been one of the last major struggles before they had retreated to the Fortress and built a line of defences they hoped would hold their enemy back, they then set to work trying to find a way to prevent what had happened from ever happening using a combination of Earth, Kryptonian, Oa, Martian, Atlanta's and Thanagarian science.

Bruce who had crippling injuries he had received during the battle of Gotham which he had survived, only because he had been flown out of the conquered city by Kal was the one who had come up with a way to maybe change the entire future on its head and stop the war before it ever began. Bruce was not the same as he once was, he had become bitter and cold not that it was a surprise when one considered the losses he had taken during the war. He had lost so much, including two women he had loved with one been pregnant with his child before both were murdered by someone they had trusted and had betrayed them. He had also lost, Alfred, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, two of his closest allies and friends and the man who had almost been like a second father. Alfred had been killed during an assault on Wayne manor by Two Face and his cronies in one of their plans to kill Batman, the timely arrival of Dick and Connor had turned the tide until Oliver and Dinah could arrive to help drive them back. Tim had been killed by the Joker two years into the war and finding his body strung up for all to see had been a chilling experience, Dick had survived all the way up to the battle for Gotham and had died saving Barbara Gordon as she was evacuated by Bruce who had already failed to save her father the day before. It was just after this event that he had been attacked by Joker, Bane and Grundy and refusing to retreat had choose to stand and fight and go down with the city he had spent so many years trying to save but Kal had refused to allow it and rushed in to save him but had been delayed by Sinestro.

Diana felt Kal move away although he did not go far; she followed wishing they could find some time to be alone, but with the fortress full with those few left still willing to fight and with some of the refugees who had been saved during the war finding time alone was hard to come by. Before she could say anything they were interrupted by Kara, who was vastly different from the girl she had once been. The loss of her closest friends and the war itself had reminded her too much of the loss of Krypton and had turned her into a dark brooding and constantly angry woman, not that she had been far from that since her arrival on Earth. Her relationship with Kal had always been tenures but it had seemed to be on the mend after they had dealt with H'El although that had been a long time ago now, but the war and the loss of Courtney and Mary which for some reason she chose to blame Kal for had all but destroyed it and she spoke rarely with him these days.

"Bruce wants to see you both now, he says it is time to start putting our last gambit into play before they break through the inner defence line" Kara told them both looking straight at Kal with a hard glare as if it was his fault all of this madness had happened. "Before the fortress cannot power the machine" she added.

"Kara summon all remaining personal able to fight, we best prepare to buy all the time we can" Kal replied with a sigh knowing there was little chance of making things right with his cousin, that chance had been lost so very long ago.

Perhaps it had been lost when she had been forced to make a choice between saving Earth and saving a Krypton that he knew had already been lost. But Kara had resisted the idea of Krypton been destroyed, which is why she had listened and almost helped H'El in destroying Earth to bring Krypton back. Perhaps she had never forgiven him for making her make that call, he regretted that lost chance but knew perhaps if Bruce's plan worked then they could have another chance at been family.

"Kal" Diana went to say but was interrupted by Kal-El.

"We have no choice now Diana, if Bruce's plan is the only one we have left to use then we need to buy all the time we can so it can be implemented, if the Fortress comes under heavy attack it may end up too damaged to power the machine needed to activate the plan" Kal reminded her with a heavy sigh. "We make our stand now and prey we buy the time to send the memory wave backwards in time far enough to make a difference" he told her.

"So we all get to die for his insane plan?" Kara inquired resentfully. She knew she was been unfair to Kal and Bruce and most of the other survivors but she found herself losing interest in fighting this war.

Her closest friends Courtney and Mary were long dead for certain, captured and broken by Luthor and that bastard Zod who had not only destroyed her beloved Krypton but was now destroying her second home. Kal had failed to stop it because he was too weak to take a life, his ultimate rule and fear kept him from doing what had to be done. During the battle for Washington, he had beaten Zod and had one chance to kill the monster and finally avenge Krypton, their families and all his other victims. But Kal had refused to do it, fearing it would make him just like Zod that he would become just as evil and thus Zod had escaped when Kal had been jumped by Grundy and Deathstroke. Since their deaths, Kara had felt distant from Kal and all the others and it seemed to grow as time went on. Still she was an El and that meant she could not rest whilst evil lived, she would do her duty to her family, friends and the League. She would do what Kal would not, she would kill as many of their enemies as she could before she fell and she swore she would not suffer the fate of Courtney and Mary.

"Is there nothing else we can do to slow them down?" Diana inquired knowing Kal was right but wanting them all to be sure before they committed the last of their forces to a last stand.

"Nothing Diana" Kal responded with a shake of his head. "We have at best two hundred fighters and most of them are normal soldiers or willing volunteers from the refugee's" he pointed out. "Not enough to launch any kind of attack as we will need all the strength we have to hold the inner line long enough for Bruce to activate the machine as it takes a certain amount of time to power up considering its size and the fact we cobbled it together from so many different alien and earth technologies that it takes time to sync them for transmitting and transferring the power from the fortress" he reminded her.

"At least we will die on our feet" Kara stated making them both turn to look at her. "Just make sure this time Kal you kill them, don't leave them alive because your fear of been like them doesn't matter anymore" she shouted as her anger at her cousin got the better of her. "You could have killed Zod, Luthor and a dozen others making this war far easier to win but you refused to do so and it has cost us far too much as it is" she continued to rant. "The others didn't have that problem and nor does your beloved Diana, maybe had you used all your strength and power then we wouldn't be in this mess" she spat before spinning and stalking away.

"I think we may have just found out why Kara has been so on the outs with you" Diana mused before taking note of Kal's pale and shocked expression. She quickly moved to comfort him; Kal did not fight as she wrapped her hands around him and drew him closer. "She didn't really mean that Kal, she is just angry and needing someone to blame and you are just the easy target considering your past troubles" she said soothingly.

"She's right Diana, I should have put my fears aside and done what needed to be done like the others" Kal finally admitted a fact he had tried to ignore for so very long. The lessons he had learned from his parents before their untimely deaths still held sway over him, made him fear what he would do should he ever cross that fateful line.

"You were not trained to kill Kal, the Kent's did all they could to ensure you would never misuse your powers and so did Jor-El's hologram" Diana told him gently. "They all knew what could happen should you cross the line and then get a taste for that short of thing, they wanted you to be a hero the world could look up to and whilst that did not exactly happen as they would have wished due to their fear of your powers and origin they still at least believed in your intentions to help this world" she continued in the same soothing voice as before.

"I still should have forced myself to realise the old rules were long dead, I should have done everything in my power to fight this war but I always hesitated when it came to the kill" Kal shot back not willing to be comforted just then. "Maybe had I crossed the line this war would have been different just like Kara said" he mused aloud.

"Or maybe it would have been worse Kal" Diana insisted not willing to allow him to be buried under guilt put upon him by his angry cousin. "You had reason to fear, remember when you first met Zod when he escaped the zone the first time how easily he almost got you to kill Luthor" she reminded him. "It was only your deep seeded fear that stopped you and made you realise he was manipulating you, it saved you from becoming a monster" she argued making him look her in the eye. "A monster I would have had to have slayed, and doing that would have devastated me" she continued. "I love you Kal, my heart beats only for you and I will not lose you not to death and especially not to evil" she stated with as much conviction as she could put into her voice.

Kal stared into Diana's enticing eyes, eyes that had always captivated him ever since meeting her all those years ago. Her eyes had always shown the passion that had drawn him to her from the very start even when she was with Steve Trevor. Her relationship with Steve had never sat well with him but he had respected her choice, when they had broken up after their confrontation with Graves he had been almost giddy even though he would not have made a move had events not conspired to draw them together in a moment that had defined their future relationship and still made him smile to this day even in the face of the war. That night they had met to discuss the fall out of the Graves encounter, they had expressed how far they had both felt from the rest of the planet due to their powers and origins, he recalled how they had slowly been pulled towards one another and then they had kissed one another in a slow burning passionate kiss that had been unlike any he had before. He recalled her pulling away when she realised what had happened before flying away leaving him there in shock, it had taken a few days until they would talk and slowly fall into a relationship that had lasted all the way till now.

"It is not your fault alone we have failed to win this war Kal, the failure is all of ours to bare as well as the failures of the governments of the world before they fell" Diana started again having let a small silence fall between them. "Do not let Kara's need for a target make you believe this is your entire fault, because it is not" she told him and only let up when Kal finally nodded in agreement. "Now we best see Bruce before he loses his temper at our lateness" she said with another smile before turning and leading him by the hand to the large part of the cave where the machine they had built rested along with Bruce's few belongings he'd had Kal scavenged from the destroyed Bat cave.

Bruce looked up and immediately glared at them as they entered, his body may have been shattered but his mind and spirit remained unbroken. Beside him Barbara Gordon worked on a data pad ignoring their entrance, the former Batgirl had long gotten used to been in a wheelchair after been shot in the spine by the Joker and had done her best to help Bruce come to terms with his own crippling injuries but for the most part she had not been very successful. However the redhead remained loyal to Bruce as she had when she first donned the outfit of Batgirl, the two worked well together and often bounced ideas off one another. They basically led the science minded hero's that remained, which was even fewer now that Cyborg was dead.

"You wanted to see us Bruce" Diana said as she noted there was no sign of the other people who usually worked with Bruce and Barbara.

"Yes I did ten minutes ago" Bruce growled in response hating been kept waiting especially when he felt there was no time for anything but getting their last gambit into motion. "I've already heard about Cyborg and his forces been wiped out, which means they will be coming for us sooner than we thought" he told them. "Our time is up, I need all the power the fortress has got to power the machine and send the memory wave backwards in time" he continued.

"The portal will only last five minutes at the most and maybe not even that so we need every bit of power we've got" Barbara added before either could respond. "We can't afford for the enemy to get close enough to the fortress to damage it and cut the power off" she told them.

"We know, I've already ordered every capable fighter to the inner defence line" Kal informed them. "We'll hold them as long as we can Bruce, but just remember there will be no second chance here so do not make a mistake" he added. "I plan to set the fortress to self-destruct within three hours that is our time limit" he admitted. "I cannot let Zod and Luthor get their hands on the fortress, Jor-El was insistent on that before he went off line"

"What about the refugee's?" Barbara demanded to know a little surprised by been given a time limit and the idea that Superman would actually destroy the fortress which had been his home since the Kent's had tragically been killed.

"The word will be spread of what will happen, it is up to them if they try to flee although we all know this is it as far as any kind of resistance existing for them to hide behind" Kal answered with a tired sigh. "If they choose to stay then they do so knowing they will die in three hours, and will not become slaves to Zod and Luthor" he said as calmly as he could hating having to make such a choice but seeing no other way.

"That is a cold choice to make" Barbara shot back not liking what Kal had put in place even if she knew he was correct.

"But the only one we have left to make Barbara, this is it the end and those who survive it will be nothing but slaves and cannon fodder for our enemies" Diana cut in already seeing Kal's point. "Better for them to die now than suffer the fate of Courtney and Mary and so many others" she insisted.

That stopped Barbara cold as she could not argue against that, they had all heard about what fate befell those who were captured especially females. Just thinking about it gave Barbara shivers at suffering such a fate, losing her ability to walk would seem like a walk in the park.

"Begin preparing the machine Bruce, I will send all the power the fortress can muster to it before I leave" Kal ordered. "Good luck and goodbye" he added before he turned and left the room.

"May the gods grant us success" Diana whispered before she too turned and followed leaving Bruce and Barbara to watch them go.

"How long do you think they can hold the line?" Barbara asked turning to her friend and long-time mentor.

"Even with Kal and Diana leading them I doubt they will last more than an hour or TWIo so we must prep the machine as fast as we can" Bruce answered knowing their friends faced impossible odds just as they had for so many years now.

He wished his body had not been broken and that he could stand on the line and go down fighting like he had tried to do at the fall of Gotham, but Kal had refused to allow him to die that day and had saved him much to his anger and frustration. The city he had long fought to save had been destroyed, most of his closest allies and friends were dead and he had wished to die defending what remained of Gotham to the end, still been saved had allowed him to come up with this plan. It was a wild desperate plan that could make things ten times worse and bring about the war even sooner that it had done in their timeline, but they had no other way to change things in their favour. It was Kryption science that was the key to their plan, they had been so advanced they had found a way to manipulate time and the knowledge of how to do so was in the fortress's databanks which he had found whilst searching through them for a weapon to use against Zod. Now was the time to prove it had all been worth it, time to put their plan into effect and hopefully change the future.

"Begin preparations to start powering the machine as soon as Kal sends the signal he has begun transferring all power to the fortress" Bruce ordered as he wheeled himself over to another panel to begin his final calculations.

Barbara nodded and moved to the monitoring panel that showed the power transfer; when the signal showed she began the sequence that would power the machine. She prayed this would work, because if it did not then all their suffering and struggle would be for nothing.

+TWI+

(Forward Base)

Zod strolled through the lines confidently as his men prepared for the assault on the last line of defence of the so called Justice League, led by the son of his ancient enemy Jor-El. The fact that the line of El survived vexed him greatly, that he had almost been killed by the son of El wounded his pride. But the son of El was weak and refused to kill, that would be his downfall as it had been his fathers. His final revenge on the family that had imprisoned him would be to kill Kal-El and his cousin Kara Zor-El and claim the fortress of solitude with all its knowledge and power for himself. He would then finally kill his so called ally Lex Luthor and claim sole lordship over this world as he always meant to, he would then rebuild Krypton as it always was meant to be without the weaknesses of Jor-El and those like him. Once he had this planet under his control he would build an even greater army and then he would lead it into the stars and conquer the distant worlds, and he would build an empire that would last for generations under his family line. He found Luthor standing near some of his superpowered cohorts that he believed would keep him alive when this war was over, he was under no illusions that Luthor also desired to build an empire. One in which he would rule alone after he murdered Zod and his generals he was sure, not that it would ever happen as he was always on guard when near Luthor.

"Are the troops prepared?" Zod demanded to know as he looked through one of the seeing scopes to view the defence line they were about to attack. He quickly took note of some of the remaining members of the Justice League, those that had survived by pure luck. Very few were any real threat, he quickly refocused as Kal-El and his lover arrived. So they would lead the last defence, he smirked in glee that his time of revenge was even closer at hand than he had believed.

"Of course they are ready" Lex snorted at what he believed to be a stupid question. He grew tired of having to be constantly nice to this alien.

He had used Zod as a means to an end to rid himself of all who could stop him from claiming his rightful place as ruler of this world, he had long prepared for the day when he would not need him anymore. He was certain he could remove Zod and his loyal followers to the zone once they had won the war, when the last of the Justice League especially Kal-El was dead. That particular alien had long been a thone in his side, and he intended to see him dead before this day was done. But before he died he planned to add the final insult, he would have his lover Diana captured and bound before he made him watch as she was taken by force by his greatest enemy and then he would slit her throat enjoying Kal-El's scream of agony as he did so. Yes he could just imagine the pleasure of it all, it would be his ultimate revenge for all the years of pain, betrayal and loss he had suffered at Kal-El's hands when he has mascaraed as his friend pretending to be just a normal farmers son known as Clark Kent.

"Good because we face our true enemy now" Zod responded. "Kal-El and his lover have come to lead the defence, they will rally to them beyond what we have faced so far" he stated. "They will fight to the last man, this battle will not be fast no matter than we outnumber them" he added confidently as he had seen it before back on Krypton.

When a great leader comes before a smaller force on the eve of battle he knew they could rally that force to do great deeds, he himself had done so during the battle to save Kandor so many years ago before he had seen that the leaders he had once defended did not deserve his loyalty or sacrifice. Kal-El may not have been born to be a soldier but he had learned the art of battle during the war, mostly thanks to the efforts of his Amazon lover and Arthur Curry the King of Atlantis who had retreated from the war and now only protected his kingdom below the seas. For now they had been content to leave him there, but one day they would venture deep and conquer the underwater kingdom and enslave its people after they watched the executions of their king and queen.

"So they have come to die all the quicker good" Luthor sneered in response. "I cannot wait to have them both at my feet, I can already see his despairing face as I take his woman before his very eyes and then kill her just so his last few moments are all the more painful" he said to no one but they all heard. His voice was cold as ice, and his eyes were like the pits of hell.

Zod could at least admit the human had a flare for darkness and evil thought on par with his own, but the man lacked in imagination with a lot of his plans which had prolonged the war far beyond what it should have been this was whilst ignoring his own failings.

"PREPARE FOR BATTLE" Zod called out as Faora moved to his side, glancing at his wife he noted the evil gleam in her eyes. Clearly she was ready for a rematch with the Amazon; she had not forgotten who put the scars on her face during their first escape from the zone.

+TWI+

(Inner Defence Line)

Kal and Diana landed to find the troops filling into the trenches they had dug, the volunteers arriving in twos and threes. Hal Jordan quickly moved to join them, the last of three Green Lanterns assigned to Earth, John Stewart and Kyle Raynar had both perished during the early years of the war. Hal however was the strongest of the three and had learned not to charge in recklessly like his former fellow Lanterns, they were soon joined by Kara, Hawkman, J'onn, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, Katana, Hiro and Fire. This was all that was left of the Justice League; the rest had died already in the war leaving only them to fight this final battle.

"Is this it?" Hal inquired as he looked around as the trenches were filled.

"It is Hal, our last stand" Kal confirmed with a nod of his head. "We must hold this line for as long as we can, buy as much for Bruce to activate our last gambit" he told them as they watched him. "We fight to the last man, no surrender" he went on.

"How long do we need for the machine to be activated?" Atom inquired flexing his hands knowing that within the next hour or two most of them would be dead if not all of them.

"It depends on how long it takes the power from the fortress to be transferred to the machine" Hiro answered who would know as he had helped build it. Hiro was the third person to carry the title of Toyman and the only one who was not a villain, he had grown up into a young man and as the war had waged. He was also one of the smartest people alive; thanks to some of his inventions they had managed to hold the enemy far longer than they might have done so without him.

"No matter how long it takes we continue to hold even once the machine is activated, we do not stop because I assure you all that all that waits for those that survive this battle is slavery and a slow long agonising death or worse especially if you are female as we all know they like to do" Diana told them before Kal could say anything. There were nods all around as they all knew what captured females were subjected to if they were captured alive, none of them who stood there wanted to live to face such a thing.

Diana turned and undid the bracelets that kept her full power bound, as soon as they were undone she felt the power of her father Zeus fill her. She pulled her sword from its sheath and swung it once or twice before looking out at the approaching horde, the odds were against them she knew but they had to succeed or all was lost.

"Takes your positions and prepare to fight, we give no mercy this time" Kal ordered as he swore this time he would not hesitate to kill their enemies. As this was more than likely his last fight it would not matter if he crossed the line or not, his fear of becoming like Zod were groundless in the face of failing to buy enough time for Bruce to enact their plan.

Kal then turned to face Diana knowing this was their last moment together, that after this there would be no more time for them to express their love for one another. He took her hands into his and pulled her closer; she went willingly into his arms and just held him for the next few minutes.

"I can't believe this is the end" Diana whispered to him not wanting anything to overhear their goodbyes.

"It may be the end for us Diana but perhaps if we succeed in buying time for Bruce our younger selves will have all the time in the world to be together once they have dealt with Luthor and his allies. Kal responded putting all the belief he felt into his tone, that thought gave him strength to go into this battle with some sliver of hope.

"Do you really believe that?" Diana asked glancing up and locking eyes with him.

"I do, do you really think your father and the other gods intended for this happen?" Kal answered as calmly as he could. "They were caught completely off guard by this, their banishment could not be expected or believed possible and would have failed if Luthor had not found the keys that tied them to our world" he reminded her. "They would want any chance at them been freed to succeed and they sure as hell did not wish Luthor to dominate the world" he continued.

"No they would not Kal and they would want us to succeed in our plan" Diana agreed with a nod of her head. "I have missed their presence in my life at least when they were not trying to play games with me" she admitted.

"This plan will work Diana and we will fix the mistakes that led us to this nightmare" Kal told her even though a part of him feared it either would not work or would be prevented just before Bruce could send the signal

'THEY ARE COMING' J'onn warned through a telepathic call that made them both to see the enemy advancing under the cover of heavy bombardment.

Kal and Diana locked eyes once more knowing there time had run out, they leaned forward and kissed one another for what they knew would be the last time. Breaking apart they slowly turned and moved to their chosen positions. Kal clenched his fists and prepared for the fight of his life, knowing it was his last.

"Bruce, it's starting so please be as fast as you can" Kal said through his comms device.

+Fortress+

Bruce heard Kal and knew that now time was of the essence, no matter how many fighters Kal and the others had managed to assemble the chances of them holding the line for more than an hour at most was slim at best. But hurrying the process needed to prep the machine and transfer the power needed was not wise, but he guessed they didn't have any other choice. The memory wave had to be sent no matter what, or all the deaths and destruction were for nothing and he refused to allow that to be.

"Barbara" he said gaining his friends attention and he could already see her ready to object. "Push the prep stage as fast you can, I will begin inputting the co-ordinates for where we are sending the wave for to who" he told her.

"Bruce, we shouldn't rush this" Barbara objected even though she knew it was pointless.

"I know Barbara but we don't have a choice anymore, they won't be able to hold the line for more than half an hour at most and then they will poor as much fire as they needed to break into the fortress and I am certain Kal did not set the self-destruct for three hours" Bruce countered. "At best we probably have an hour at most" he assured her.

Barbara turned back to her pad and began doing what she could to speed up the prepping stage, she wondered if Bruce was right and Kal had lied about how long they had till the self-destruct went off. Kal had become a lot colder and calculated in the last few years, only Diana's constant presence kept him from losing his emotional connections completely and she dreaded to even think of what he would be capable of had that ever happened. Would he really have become like Zod had he killed or lost those vital connections, she just didn't know.

"Prep will be complete in seven minutes, best I can do Bruce" Barbara said as monitored the machine as it came online and its link to the fortress fully connected.

"Good, Co-ordinates are imputed and fixed" Bruce responded with barely a glance over his shoulder. "Now once the prep is done all we need is power" he stated already feeling impatient at the delay.

+TWI+

(Inner Defence Line)

Kal slammed into Grundy with all the power he could muster sending the undead monster flying backwards, the problem with fighting Grundy was he was hard to stop for any length of time and even if he could be killed he had his self-resurrection to revive him. He had been killed before and had come back much to the League's annoyance, he quickly followed it up with a round house kick to the monsters head before unleashing a blast of his heat vision with enough power to burn right through Grundy's skull. He did his best to ignore the faint feeling of sickness he felt at killing someone but he refused to handicap himself in this fight, he quickly turned and headed towards Zod who he could see was about to kill Fire and he put on a burst of speed and just barely intercepted his killing blow and thus saving his ally. Fire dropped to the ground barely conscious, her left arm was broken and she felt nothing but agonising pain in her back and legs.

Still she refused to die on the ground like so many of her friends and forced herself back up and into the fray, she could rest when she was dead and right now she was still very much alive. Zod was taken by surprise as Kal slammed into him with such speed and power it knocked him halfway the way he had come, Aethyr tried to intercept him but quickly paid the price as he slammed his fists into her stomach doubling her over and then quickly snapped her neck.

'So finally the son of El had learned to kill' a bit late Zod thought. "So now you kill when it is too late to stop us, how disappointed your father would be to see you sink to such levels" he taunted.

"Maybe but I have nothing left to fear if I kill, because this is my last fight and I won't have to fear what comes after" Kal responded as he stalked towards his foe. "I won't stop until I am dead, I won't surrender" he swore.

"Good Kal-El I hope you live up to that promise" Zod said with approval. "If you surrendered I would think less of you, seen as this is our last meeting I will admit you have proved a worthy advisory just like you father was back on Krypton" he admitted with a cruel smile. "And you know what is really funny is that neither of you are soldiers and yet you have fought harder than any solider I have fought back on Krypton or even here, killing you will be a true pleasure" he added as he cracked his neck and prepared to engage.

"We'll see who has the pleasure" Kal said before he shot forward and smashed into Zod with all the power he could muster. Zod met the attack head on actually looking forward to their final battle.

Lex watched the two collide even as he killed two soldiers who rushed him, his suit easily making him twice as strong as a regular human and just as fast. Suddenly a sword almost took his head off and he turned to find himself facing off against Wonder Woman, smirking he cracked his fingers at this turn of good fortune.

"Ah well this saves me some time, I was going to go looking for you anyway" Lex said as his smirk turned into a leer. "I intend to make him watch as I take you by force and break you before I kill you, so his last few moments in this life are all the more painful" he taunted. "Like I took Lana from him all those long years ago, made him watch as I claimed her love for my own lusts" he continued but felt a momentary prang of loss for his wife who had dead for several years killed in an attack by the Justice League on his former home.

Diana shivered slightly at the very thought of Luthor touching her in any manner. "It will never happen; I'll die before I submit to the likes of you Luthor and in a few minutes you'll be dead so you pathetic dreams mean nothing" she warned as he readied herself and the dived forward bringing her sword down in a sweeping swing forcing Lex to back off.

Hal looked around and took note that Hiro was down and clearly dead considering the bent angle of his head, he shook his head at the loss but knew there was no time to grieve for him anymore than there was for any of the others who had fallen. Taking a breath he attacked Sinestro who had become an ally of Luthor and Zod several years back just so he could try and have a chance at killing Hal. It had been Sinestro who had killed Kyle and John both, he kept both of their rings on his belt and Hal had promised himself he would end Sinestro and take back those rings in memory of his friends. Constructing a hammer he slammed it into the stunned alien before following it up with a giant fist, and then he let his anger flow and kept slamming the fist into Sinestro refusing to allow him to rise. Blood quickly pooled around his hated enemy, pausing only a second he forced a giant spike and impaled Sinestro through the heart causing him to cry out as he struggled to stay alive.

"You still lose Jordon" Sinestro managed to spit out. "Your world is all but destroyed, your friends are dead or dying and you know there is no hope of you winning this war" he struggled to say.

"Maybe but at least you won't be there to see our defeat" Hal spat back as he watched the life drain out of Sinestro's eyes before he finally expired.

Reaching down he removed the two green rings Sinestro had tied to his belt and standing up he closed his eyes momentarily in prayer to his fallen friends, but even as he opened them and put the rings onto his own belt something shoot through his body and he looked down in shock to find two bullet holes in his chest. Coughing up blood he collapsed to his knees unable to believe he had allowed himself to become distracted, glancing back he glared as he noted Deadshot standing behind him with a cocky grin on his face before he fell forwards and knew no more. Before Deadshot could do more than reload his weapon his head came off in a shower of blood revealing Katana behind him holding the blooded blade she had used to decapitate Deadshot, turning she moved to attack Deathstroke next but knew she was nowhere near capable of defeating him but willing to delay him even if it cost her life to do so. Deathstroke met her strike with his own swords and quickly they began to duel across the blood covered snow, behind them Hawkman also known as Carter Hall collided with Icicle once more. He intended to pay back every death this piece of shit had caused from the JSA; he would not escape his wrath again. Every time he had come close to finishing him the little sneak had managed to escape and then come back to haunt them later on but not this time.

J'onn winced as he witnessed the deaths of five of their allies to the assault by a group of surviving white Martians who had been found by Zod and brought to Earth to aide in his war, gathering every bit of power he had he charged them knowing more than likely even if he defeated them it would be his last fight. However he was soon joined by Captain Marvel who drove into two of the creatures who had destroyed his world with such force it created a crater impact; he knew Marvel was angry and had been since the loss of his female counterpart Mary and that he would show no mercy to any of Luthor and Zod's allies. The smoking corpses of the white Martians almost made him smile; he then attacked the other three alongside Marvel. To the far right Captain Atom and a number of the lesser surviving heroes and soldiers tried to hold back the fury of Doomsday, freed from its prison once more by Zod and Luthor it had been on a rampage for a full year and not even Kal and Diana had been successful in stopping it.

Diana spat out a gobful of blood as she looked at the smirking face of Luthor as he moved to stand over her and that was all she needed, summoning her power she unleashed a bolt of lightning that struck Luthor's head and made him scream in agony as his nerve endings were fried. Not letting the moment pass her she rammed her sword straight through his suit and up into his heart, blood spurted from his mouth in shock as he felt the blade pierce his body before he realised he had been defeated because he had gotten cocky. Removing the blade she watched as he collapsed before her, glaring at him one more time she removed his head just to ensure he was dead. She felt some satisfaction at been the one to finally end this monster who had brought so much death to the world, as she went to turn she felt a burning blast of heat strike her back and she was flung aside. Turning her head she watched as Faora descended beside Luthor's corpse, pushing herself back up she moved to face a foe she had truly come to loathe.

"Thank you Princess you have done my husband a favour in killing this particular human even if he was on our side, we knew he would try and kill us and claim sole lordship of this world" Faora stated with a sarcastic smirk which made her blood boil.

"I didn't kill him to do you any favours witch, I just wanted him to pay for bringing hell to this world by releasing you and your insane husband as well as his followers" Diana spat I response.

Instead of getting angry at her statement Faora laughed aloud at been called insane. "I never tire of hearing you call me that I believe I will miss it when you are dead, prepare to meet your end Princess" she warned quickly turning serious as her eyes began to glow red.

Diana prepared to meet the blast of heat vision when she was suddenly flung forwards by a blast of magic that scorched the skin from her shoulder. Forcing herself back up she was unsurprised to find Circe floating before her with a dark glare on her face.

"Yes your death comes now Diana, the last of the Amazons will finally fall and my revenge will be complete" Circe gloated with a smirk.

"Perhaps but you haven't killed me yet witch" Diana shot back before launching herself at her long hated foe but doing her best to keep an eye on Faora who watched the entire fight.

Kal and Zod continued to reign down blows on one another with total abandonment uncaring of who got in their way; their entire focus was on finally ending the other. Kal suddenly unleashed a blast of his heat vision straight at Zod's face making him flinch and stumble away, this allowed him to press his attack but was quickly forced back as Zod quickly countered and struck him in the chest with a powerful kick to his side and followed it up with a bitter thrust to his throat that made him choke. They continued to trade blows but as before their strength was evenly matched, they both knew it but they continued blooding each other severely. Doomsday roared loudly as it ripped the body of a lesser hero to pieces whilst crushing the body of the one of the few remaining soldiers under its feet, it then charged the wounded Captain Atom who tried to meet the powerful rush but was sent flying into a concrete wall. Groaning he tried to stand back up but failed to in time as Doomsday grabbed him and then quickly threw him into the air, Captain Marvel noted the loss of his ally and quickly moved to avenge him if he could leaving J'onn to fight the last two white Martians on his own.

Marvel slammed into Doomsday calling down a bolt of thunder as he did so distracting the monster allowing him to land the first punch and quickly follow it up with a second, sadly they had little effect on the beast and it quickly back handed him so hard he flew twenty feet backwards. Groaning he got back to his feet to find Doomsday bearing down on him, calling on his magic he unleashed everything he had but it barely slowed the beast down and it was quickly upon him, blow after blow rained down on him even though he did his best to defend himself. Blow coated his face and his knees began to buckle as Doomsday raised his fists once more only for J'onn and Kara slammed into him with enough force to knock Doomsday backwards, slumping he turned to see the charred remains of the white Martians clearly the victim of Kara's heat vision. Kara reigned down blow after blow down on the beast as J'onn struck out with his own blows from the other side, whoever would believe she would fight side by side with the being who had helped exile her and her parents from their home so long ago, for so long she had harboured a deep mistrust and anger at the Martian once she was released from her ship stuck in a dam for fifteen years only to find him on Earth aiding her cousin. Just behind them Carter finally nailed Icicle with his mace sending him to the ground with blood spurting out of his mouth, as the younger man tried to get back up he raised his mace and brought it down as hard as he could crushing the skull of the man who had killed so many of his friends and allies.

"Justice is served" he spat before spreading his wings and shooting towards Doomsday intending to help anyway he could.

Diana spat blood out of her mouth as she called upon the power of her father and prepared a bolt of lightning, the ability had been the last gift Zeus had bestowed on her before the gods had been banished. Circe charged at her with her staff glowing ready to strike and she quickly unleashed the bolt straight at her, Circe was hit dead on causing her to scream in agony as her body was electrified and she started to burn as the power overcame her magical defences and she dropped to the ground nothing but a burnt husk. Faora was surprised to say the least at the defeat of the witch to Diana, a foe she had come to loath over the years of endless battle. Still the Amazon was weakened from two combats, it was unlikely she would survive a third. Diana warily turned to face her and slowly raised her sword ready for what was probably her last battle, she wished she could talk to Kal one last time before the end but she could see him just out of the corner of her eyes locked in combat with Zod. She sent a prayer to the gods even though they were all banished and then charged at Faora who quickly fired her heat vision at her, ready for such an obvious attack she jumped over it and smashed into Faora sending them both to the ground after slamming the grip of her sword into her enemy's face.

Fire and Katanna both retreated as Deathstroke charged them with his swords, sadly for Fire her injuries made her slower than her ally and she was quickly brought into range of DeathStoke's sword. She managed to evade the first two swipes but the third sliced into her side as she tried to duck it again, crying out in pain she slumped to the ground struggling to breath and stay conscious. She could see Katanna reverse her direction and move to help but Fire knew she would not reach her in time, closing her eyes for a few seconds she opened them and blasted a wave of heat at Deathstroke with her one usable hand even as he brought his own swords down into a cutting arc cleaving her head from her body. Deathstroke staggered back as his face was engulfed in flame blinding him for a few previous seconds, which was all that was needed for Katanna to ram her blade into his chest. Coughing up blood he dropped one of his swords and stared into the young woman who had finally ended his run of death, smirking he head-butted her and then rammed his other sword into her chest. Katanna dropped to the ground next to her decapitated ally and knew she was done for, but she had the satisfaction to know she had brought down the infamous Deathstroke and she watched as he expired just before she finally closed her eyes and followed him and Fire into oblivion.

Carter staggered from the blow he received from Doomsday barely holding onto his mace and forced himself to stay standing, this beast was unlike anything he had fought before but he would not retreat. He charged it again at the same time as Kara and Marvel who unleashed another bolt of lightning at it, he swung his mace into the creatures face with all the strength he had left even as Kara unleashed a torrent of heat vision that even he could feel. Doomsday roared in rage as it was attacked from all sides as J'onn attacked it from behind with a rein of blows to its head. Doomsday staggered then lashed out sending Carter flying backwards with such force but his wings were broken making him cry out in pain, Kara was sent flying as well with enough force she ploughed into and then through a wall. Marvel unleashed another bolt of lightning before he too was flung away leaving J'onn to face the wrath of the beast on his own, Doomsday charged him but he phased through him but even as he went solid and turned to fight the beast grabbed him by the head and began to squeeze with all its might. J'onn cried out in agony as he felt his head been crushed and tried to phase out of the way but the pain stopped him from accessing his powers, he felt his strength wain and even as Kara and Marvel came flying back as fast as they could to help Doomsday then grabbed him by the chest with its other hand and then gave an almighty pull thus separating J'onn's head from his body in a fountain of blood. Kara almost came to a dead stop at seeing the death of the Martian but forced herself to keep going, she fired her heat vision at full power at the same time Marvel hit it with another bolt of lightning at the same spot. Doomsday collapsed as the smoke cleared and they both hesitantly moved closer, suddenly Marvel screamed out as a burst of heat vision ripped through his body from behind and even as Kara spun to face one of Zod's disciples she heard a roar as Doomsday regained his footing behind her.

Diana staggered backwards as she tried to hold onto her sword but her arm felt numb and so she finally dropped it, breathing was becoming difficult from the many blows she had taken from Faora and the tallest of Zod's disciples who had come to help her. She was bleeding from many cuts on her body but she refused to fall just yet, calling on her powers one more time she unleashed a bolt of lightning that caused the sky to light up hitting the disciple full on and turning him to a burnt cinder in seconds. Faora just managed to dive clear, she rolled back to her feet and flew straight at Diana nailing her with a wicked right hand and quickly followed it up with another and another sending the Amazon finally to the ground. Grinning Faora grabbed Diana's fallen sword and moved to stand over her, Diana sensed her presence and quickly called on her power one last time but even as she unleashed the bolt Faora plunged her sword straight into her chest causing her to cough up blood. Faora screamed as she felt the bolt of lightning strike and she staggered away burnt and broken to her knees, groaned she watched as Kal-El suddenly appeared at his lover's side and the look of agony on his face filled her with joy. Turning her head weakly she saw her husband slowly regaining his feet from whatever Kal-El had done to him, turning she watched Diana's lost moments.

"Do…Don't give up Kal, fight" Diana managed to say as she felt the darkness close in on her, she noted tears leaking from Kal's eyes and wiped them away as best she could. "I…I love you now and forever" she added before she collapsed against him and finally passed on even as a lone tear fell from her left eye even as it closed.

"NOOOOO" Kal screamed in rage as he watched the life leave Diana's eyes, turning to glare at Faora who grinned at him even as she began to push herself back to her feet.

For once in his life Kal did not even try and control his heat vision instead he unleashed it's full might upon Faora who screamed in utter horror for several seconds before he body was reduced to ash, Kal turned them to see Kara and a very wounded Carter try desperately to fend off Doomsday. Before he could even attempt to help Zod ploughed into him and sent him flying, tumbling hard he finally managed to stop his momentum and regain his feet and flew to meet Zod's next charge uncaring of the enraged look on his enemy's face at the death of wife. Carter groaned as he was again knocked down this time with enough force to break his arm, Kara moved to catch Doomsday's day next blow even though it nearly knocked her to the ground but she persisted and managed to push the beast backwards so she could nail it with a double handed blow with all the strength she had left and watched with some satisfaction as it knocked the beast down. Carter pushed himself back up and gripped his mace with his remaining hand and charged forward and brought it down again and again on Doomsday's head. But as he raised his hand after several minutes of this a blast of heat vision removed his hand from his body causing him to scream in pain and turned to see Kara now surrounded by Zod's many disciples. Collapsing to his knee's he could only watch as the disciple unleashed another torrent of heat vision directly at his head; he knew know more seconds later.

Kara flew up into the sky weary and tired knowing she was one of the last of the League left but still she refused to surrender. The sudden arrival of Atom bloodied and clearly as tired as her lifted her spirits somewhat, she noted the deadly fight her cousin was in and she briefly felt bad for all the anger she had unleashed upon him over the years as they were the last of the EL family tied by blood. She wanted to fight by his side against the monster who had destroyed not only their own world but was now destroying their new world as well, but she was cut off from him by Zod's followers and she doubted she or Atom would survive the next attack. Marshalling her power she flew right at the enemy unleashing her heat vision as she went even as the Atom moved to back her up, sadly Atom never made it close as he was cut down by three separate blasts of heat vision. Kara had no time to mourn the loss of another ally as she crashed into several of Zod's disciples even as she reduced two of them to dust with her own heat vision, leading with several hard swings she went three more flying before another slammed into her chest causing her to double over and allowing another to nail her over the back of the head sending her to her knee's. The remaining disciples were on her in a flash raining blow after blow onto her. Several times she tried to push herself back to her feet but failed, finally she could rise no more and when she felt a blade pierce her back she felt somewhat relieved the pain would end. But as the darkness closed in on her she caught one last glimpse of Kal fighting Zod and prayed to Rao for his victory, finally her eyes closed for the last time.

Kal rolled several times before slowly climbing back to his feet; thankfully Zod too was recovering from his last blow that had hit him the same time as Zod had struck him with a wicked kick to his chest. This gave him time to look around and finally realise that all the others were now dead including Kara, meaning he was now the last of the house of EL. He felt a deep pain at the passing of his cousin even after all the problems they'd had between them, Diana's loss was like his heart had been ripped from his chest and Carter's death made him feel numb as he had been a mentor and friend for years. Reaching up he tapped his comm unit for the last time, time was running out,

"Bruce hurry up, I'm the last one alive but not for much longer" he said as he took the short break in the fighting to heal somewhat. "The last of our troops are falling back, it won't be long before they breech the fortress and you know what will happen if that happens" he added.

"I hear you, we're almost ready to send the signal" Bruce responded after a short pause. "Five more minutes, for what it's worth Kal I'm glad you didn't leave me to die in Gotham as at least this way we may be able to turn this war around or if we are lucky stop it from happening in the first place" he admitted.

"Goodbye old friend" Kal said before signing off knowing that admission from Bruce had to hurt the stoic man that had been one of his best friends.

"Give it up Kal-El, you are alone now" Zod shouted as his remaining followers and the last of Lex's fellow villains surrounded them. "Surrender and I will make you end quick, which will be a mercy considering you killed my wife" he offered darkly. "You and your companions have fought well and longer than any before you, I can respect it but if you do not surrender I will make your end last days" he warned although he planned to make sure Kal-El's end lasted far longer than a few days.

Kal chuckled humourlessly. "You don't think I don't know you plan to do that anyway Zod?" he asked. "Do you think I am that deluded to believe anything you say, no this ends now either with my death or yours" he swore.

Zod had to admire Kal-El's determination and spirit even after all he had lost, like his former friend Jor-El he would never give up and never lose hope. He had hated Jor-El and he hated Kal-El and yet he could not help but admire their fighting spirit, it was a failing but even the worst of enemies could respect one another. He met Kal's charge head on and both began pounding on one another with almost reckless abandonment, blood flew as they waged their last battle. Zod almost stumbled as Kal-El suddenly lashed out with a kick that knocked him backwards, probably something he had learnt from his now dead lover. Smirking he unleashed his heat vision catching Kal-El as he came back in and his howl of pain was music to his ears, rising up he flew straight into his enemy sending him flying backwards. Kal managed to avoid the next strike and lashed out with a left hand followed by a quick spin kick he had learned from Diana catching Zod as he charged back in, he moved to follow up his attack but Zod caught him of guard with a head-butt and then two solid blows and then a kick straight to his mid-section which sent him to the ground. Groaning he slowly pushed himself to his feet, only to catch a blow that stunned him and left him bleeding from the mouth into the ground. He felt himself be picked up and then a sharp elbow slammed into his back causing him to groan in pain, he tried to counter but his strength was all but gone. Again he felt the sting of Zod's elbow but this time it slammed into is neck sending him to his knees, he closed his eyes and pictured all his friends and loved ones for a final time and then even as he felt Zod move to deliver what would probably be the last blow he slipped his last gambit from his sleeve and twisted sideways and slammed the kryptonite dagger into Zod's chest even as Zod slid his own weapon a wicked sword made of a metal not known to Earth into his chest. Zod slumped to his knees in shock at Kal-El's last move, his ultimate moment of triumph was to be his end as well, he stared into the fading eyes of Kal-El even as a shadow fell on them and looking up he was a grinning Brainiac who had missed the entire battle.

"Help me" he ordered.

"Oh I don't think so General, your death makes me supreme ruler of this planet" Brainiac countered with a grin. "Mine to shape and change at my will, sorry General but you have out lived your usefulness" he mused much to Zod's horror as his life bled out. "I thank you Kal-El for having the strength to take the General with you" he stated to the now fading Kal-El who glared at him weakly before he collapsed to the floor and finally blacked out never to waken again.

Zod tried to speak but found he no longer had the strength and finally collapsed to the ground as well, he watched as his followers all kneeled to Brainiac a being he had always believed he controlled and was utterly loyal to him. How wrong he had been, he should have had a plan to deal with the A.I construct in case of betrayal but he had foolishly let his own ego get the best of him. He watched as Brainiac led his army towards the fortress, the way clear now littered by the many bodies of Kal-El's now destroyed army. Seconds later the entire fortress exploded in a fiery ball of light, chuckling at the sudden reversal and again felt respect for Kal-El's instincts. He had clearly rigged the fortress on the chance he lost the battle; it was his last thought as his life finally left him.

Brainiac stared at the destroyed fortress in rage and he wished he could personally be the one to kill Kal-El; he had robbed him of his triumph of finally claiming the fabled Fortress of Solitude. One of the greatest monuments of Kryptonian science was now nothing but a pile of rubbish, frowning he turned and walked away glaring at the bodies of Kal-El and Zod as he passed them.

+TWI+

(Fortress of Solitude, Five minutes before)

Bruce paused in his work as he heard Kal's pained voice come over the comm informing him he was the last one standing, he tried to ignore the pain of more lost friends as well as what he knew Kal had to be feeling at the loss of Diana.

"Bruce hurry up, I'm the last one alive but not for much longer" Kal told them "The last of our troops are falling back, it won't be long before they breech the fortress and you know what will happen if that happens" he added this made him exchange a wary look with Barbara.

"I hear you, we're almost ready to send the signal" Bruce informed Kal after a short pause. "Five more minutes, for what it's worth Kal I'm glad you didn't leave me to die in Gotham as at least this way we may be able to turn this war around or if we are lucky stop it from happening in the first place" he admitted with a pained smile and he noted Barbara shoot him one as well and he knew she knew how painful that was to admit.

"Goodbye old friend" Kal said before signing off and Bruce knew he would never hear from his friend again in this life, even if he somehow managed to kill Zod he would not be able to destroy all of Zod and Lex's army.

"Goodbye Kal" he whispered under his breath and then quickly got back to work knowing time was even now quickly running out. "How much longer until we have full power Barbara?" he inquired.

"Two minutes Bruce, we can do this just stay focused" Barbara responded as she checked the readings. "I've boosted the shield with the spare power generator Kal had in the fortress, all readings show green" she informed him.

Bruce nodded and imputed the last few changes he had made for the signal; it was then the longest two minutes of waiting in his life. He felt the fortress shudder under constant attack but as Barbara had stated the shield held. Finally Barbara shouted it was time and he quickly placed the crystal that would activate the machine into its slow, the machine quickly lit up and he could only wheel himself backwards and closer to Barbara as they watched the machine do its job.

"I hope this was all worth it Bruce" Barbara said as she clasped one of his hands in hers and he gave her what he hoped was a comforting squeeze.

"It will be Barbara, we may die here at any moment but our younger selves will have a chance to stop this all from happening" Bruce assured her.

Three minutes later they heard the first explosion within the fortress complex and knew the end had come, Bruce glanced once more at the machine which was now silent having hopefully done its job. He felt Barbara lay her head against his and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her as best he could and then closed his eyes, seconds later they were gone in an explosion of fire.


	2. Chapter 2

+TWRI+

+The Past+

(Kent Farm)

Clark Kent was working on mending the broken fence that surrounded the farm his family had owned for four to five generations back, much of the fence had come down during dark Thursday when Zod had tried to take over the world and destroy the human race. Hard to believe that it had only happened three weeks before and still there was a hell of a lot of damage to repair, he had spent much of the past three weeks using his powers to fix much of the damage in Metropolis and Smallville and was only now getting around to fixing things closer to home. Apart from his friendship with Chloe he felt literary cut off from his life, Lana was now firmly with Lex and would have very little to do with him. In fact even before he had broken up with Lana the last time he had begun to see another side to the dark haired girl he had loved for most of his life, a darker obsessive woman who had far more in common with his former friend Lex who was now his worst enemy. His mother was too busy been a Senator with Lois as her aide and thus both were absent for long stretches of time, granted he had encouraged her to go and take up the seat his Father had won before his death as a way of honouring him. But he had missed her council and he especially did not like how it had put his Mother into Lionel's orbit more often than not, the man might have some connection to Jor-El and the Fortress but he did not trust him. His time trapped in the zone had also helped make him feel somewhat distant from life around him, for a very short time he had known what it was like to be around another of his kind. Raya had been a balm to his wary soul as he fought to stay alive in the nightmarish prison his Father had helped create, that he had sent Raya there primarily to survive Krypton's fate seemed cruel as she had to constantly fight to survive. Her death helping him escape the prison had made him feel as if there was a shard of ice inside his heart, a shard that even now three weeks on had not faded.

He finally finished fixing the fence twenty minutes later; he had decided to do the job at normal speed so as to keep himself busy. As he got up and headed back to the barn to put the tools away he began to feel a headache come on, the sky darkened around the farm much to his confusion as he could still see the son further away. He suddenly staggered as the pain in his head seemed to explode, he just manged to get himself inside the barn before collapsing to the ground and began to have what felt like a seizure. His mind was overloaded with images of dark terrible events, pain beyond anything he had felt before filled his very being and he could not help but cry out as the image of a beautiful warrior woman appeared in his mind dying just after telling him she loved him and the wave of fury that followed her death made him shiver in horror. The images continued to come, faster and faster until finally mercifully he passed out but his body continued to jerk around and his eyes fluttered as the process of integration continued.

(Luthor Mansion)

Lex Luthor sat at his desk enjoying a glass a vintage wine when Lana Lang walked through the main door, looking fabulous in the new designer clothes she had begun to wear since they had begun dating for real. He had worked hard to finally get Lana to agree to be his lover to get her to forget all the pain and baggage her previous relationship with Clark had left in her. He still thought his former best friend was mad to let Lana go especially after he had fought to be with her since he had known him, now she was his and the feeling of finally beating Clark to his heart's desire truly something to enjoy. Leaning back in his chair he wondered at the lack of sightings of Clark since dark Thursday, it was almost as if the young man was trying to hide away which was very much unlike Clark who alongside Chloe Sullivan had a knack for sticking their noses into things best left alone. He wondered just what Clark was up to? It was so unlike him to be so absent, usually he storm in here anywhere from two days a week to three weeks a month accusing him or his company of some moral outrage and if not that then he'd need his help to stop some moral outrage although the time when he would help or be called onto help was long gone.

"Something weird is going on Lex" Lana said cutting into his thoughts and making him glance at her.

"What is going on?" Lex inquired leaning forward in interest but not trying to show too much as he wanted to keep his secret projects a secret from Lana until he knew one hundred percent he could trust her.

Usually when something weird was going on it meant one of the meteor infected had begun to act out using their powers for selfish and destructive purposes, usually the matter was taken care on in a very straight forward matter before any real response could be marshalled and Clark and Chloe would just be hanging around acting all innocent when he knew they'd had something to do with the whole affair.

"For most of Metropolis and Smallville it is a nice sunny day yet there is a localized storm going on somewhere near where the Kent farm is" Lana responded and Lex almost wanted to smile at the detached way Lana spoke of Clark's home these days.

Even when on the outs with Clark in the past the farm he lived on had always been somewhere she thought of as a sort of home thanks to the Kent's, but now Jonathan Kent was dead and Martha Kent was too busy playing Senator and with Lana's last break up with Clark it seemed finally her fondness of the place had been broken which was good news for him. He had always rankled him that she kept going back there even when she was supposed be on the outs with Clark, now it was no longer a concern. Pushing those thoughts aside he considered Lana's comment, the idea of a storm focused sorely in the area around the Kent farm was indeed strange and he wondered if Clark was the cause or at the least involved in the cause. As he knew his former friend had a habit of getting into the middle of the latest incident's concerning the meteor infected, hell as much as he hated to admit it he had saved his and Lana's lives ten times over from those people although how continued to haunt him which is one of the reasons he had attempted to test Clark by letting three meteor infected escape Belle Reve and take his parents and Lana hostage thus forcing Clark to try and infiltrate one of his factories to recover a serum that helped boost their powers. Sadly the test had proved a failure and Clark had not revealed his secret, with help from Chloe he had managed to bring down all three meteor infected and rescue his parents and Lana. It had also proved the final nail in the coffin of his friendship with Clark as Chloe had picked up the signal of the cameras he been using to track Clark, this now they were on opposite sides of the line and that divide only seemed to get stronger as time went by.

"Hmmm interesting, I wonder if there is another meteor infected individual loose" Lex mused aloud.

Lana glared at the very idea as she had grown to hate those with meteor powers as quite a few had tried to kill her over the years, the one which stood the most was of course Clark's ex-girlfriend Alicia Baker and no matter that she was now dead killed by another meteor infected psycho she had never forgotten or forgiven the blond haired girl for her actions. That Clark had forgiven her and brought her back into their lives and made her so very mad, when she heard Alicia was dead she had felt nothing but relief but she knew from Chloe that Clark had been devastated. She had never understood why he saw anything in Alicia worth such emotion; it had widened the breech between them that year before she had finally forgiven him near the second meteor strike.

"But why would such a person be near the Kent farm?" Lana finally asked shaking of her morbid thoughts.

"Just one of the many questions we both have about Clark and his ever present presence near any of these people when they get lose or are finally brought down" Lex pointed out as his fished his glass of wine and stood up. "I might just head up there and check things out, it is always possible Clark is actually behind this mystery that perhaps whatever powers he does have he has lost control over" he speculated.

"Just be careful Lex, Clark has been darker since his Father died and he is no longer trusting of you for reasons that have always eluded me as you've always gone out of your way to help him" Lana warned him moving to hug him and thus missing the smirk Lex gained at her view of the situation between him and Clark.

"Don't worry so much Lana, Clark as always is too nice to do anything harmful to me" Lex assured her before kissing her deeply and though trying to physically process her not that she minded as she took it as a sign of his need for her which was a welcome change from those last painful months with Clark where he wouldn't even touch her or show any kind of real affection or need for her which even now still stung.

She watched Lex stroll causally out of the room and then set about carrying her bags up to her room, not once did she consider how much she had changed since becoming closer and closer to Lex. Not only in attitude and direction but in the sort of style of clothes she wore, Chloe had commented on it once and she instantly hit out at the blond for trying to inosinate that she had become a completely different person to please Lex. She was the same person she always was, it was just Lex liked to buy her expensive clothes or have her buy them herself and always gave a generous amount of spending money and she did not like to let him down.

Outside Lex got into his Porsche and quickly turned the engine on and then peeled out of the manor grounds and headed for the familiar road leading to the Kent farm, he wondered just what he would find there once he did as already he could see the storm Lana had mentioned and the fact it seemed centered on only a small part of Smallville. Would he find another insane meteor freak attacking Clark or was his suggestion that Clark was behind this as he had lost control of his powers as so many of the others did correct. He would eventually find out the truth Clark had been hiding from the day they had met, and once he had proven Clark was just another meteor infected pyscho who had learned to hide himself better than the others by acting nice and been somewhat clueless he would lock him up in 33.1 with the others. That day would also forever break whatever ties Lana may still secretly harbour towards Clark, as he knew Lana hated the meteor infected with a raw passion that almost rivalled his own. But he still saw their uses to him in many of his schemes; saw how they could aide him in gaining more power.

Power was to him everything and the one thing he could honestly say his Father had taught him, granted it had taken some time for the lesson to take but it had and now he would gain power by any means nessacary. 33.1 and everything related to it was geared for one thing and one thing only to gain him power, he knew plenty of corrupt or power hungry people in the military who always wanted better weapons and what better than the idea of a super solider. A solider capable of harnessing power unlike anything seen before, power other the elements or over any and all animals or even over other people including enemy personnel. He'd be well paid for his efforts in the long run and those he did deals with would owe him greatly that when the time came they would support him when he moved to take power in whatever form he wished, smirking he imagined himself the most powerful man in the world.

+TWRI+

(Kent Farm)

Chloe Sullivan pulled her small red car over as fast as she could having pushed hard to reach the farm the minute she had seen the rather obvious localized storm near where the Kent Farm was located, something was very wrong her instincts told her and she was concerned Clark maybe hurt as she knew better than most that although Clark possessed amazing abilities that did not make him invulnerable. Jumping out of the car she ran towards the barn which was the normal location she would usually find Clark, once inside she gasped as she found Clark indeed inside but completely out cold and looking ill which chilled her as she recalled very well the last time Clark had been actually ill. That memory had stuck with her over the years even though her feelings for Clark had finally faded, yes she had actually kissed Clark before he had gone off to fight Lex and Brainiac but that had more to do with the fact she hadn't wanted to die without at least kissing Clark like that once in her life before the end. His somewhat awkward inquiry about the kiss when he got back from the Phantom Zone had been amusing, shaking her head she so didn't have the time to begin reminiscing about the past.

She checked his pulse and frowned at the rather fast rate it was going, his eyes were also showing very unusual movement even though they were closed. Something had happened and it had to do with the storm now raging over the farm, suddenly a shape shadow appeared behind her and she spun to find a dark skinned man standing behind her with really creepy looking glowing red eyes.

"Greetings Miss. Sullivan I am J'onn Jones an ally of the house of El" the man said as way of induction. "We need to get Kal-El inside whilst he remains unconscious" he added.

Chloe was instantly on alert especially as this unknown person seemed to know exactly who Clark was, and so far everyone who had known that fact had been an enemy bar Doctor Virgil Swan. Still he claimed to be an ally of Clark's true family and it wasn't like she could do much to hurt him if he turned out to be another enemy, but could she trust him to be on the level with his claim.

"I understand you caution Miss. Sullivan I do and I commend you for it but even now Lex Luthor heads towards the farm intent on finding out the reason for the storm and it would be best he not find Kal-El in such a weakened condition" J'onn told her taking no issue with the blonds hesitancy in trusting him in fact it was why he considered the blond one of Kal-El's best allies and guardians on this world.

"Why should I trust you?" Chloe demanded to know even though she doubted he was lying about Lex coming to the farm to check out the origins of the storm as that was just Lex all over poking his noise into everything whether he was invited or not.

'Because if I wanted to Miss. Sullivan I could shut your brain down right now and never allow it to wake again but I won't because like you I serve to only help people as does Kal-El and his Father Jor-El before him' J'onn pointed out telepathically. "Long ago I swore an oath to serve the house of El and I continue to serve even if that service is now from the shadows, so far Kal-El has never needed my direct intervention" he explained aloud.

"Somehow I doubt that seen as Clark has technically died before" Chloe pointed out and doing her best to ignore the sharp pain the memory of seeing Clark fall to the ground with a bullet wound in his chest caused her even now. It was one of her worst memories, believing for a short while that her best friend was dead.

"Jor-El would not allow me to interfere at that time Miss. Sullivan, I will explain in more detail later I promise once Kal-El is somewhere safer and we have diverted Luthor's attention" J'onn told her.

"Fine I can't exactly move Clark on my own anyway and letting Lex find him like this is akin to a disaster waiting to happen" Chloe relented and watched as J'onn moved over and quickly picked Clark up with ease and the head for the house. 'I hope I don't regret trusting this guy' she thought.

She watched this J'onn Jones carry Clark all the way indoors and then place him on the couch, minutes later she heard the loud screech of tires which signalled the arrival of Lex Luthor the one person she really did not want to see right now.

"Shit, how do we get him to leave with Clark laid out?" she asked aloud making J'onn chuckle gaining her attention as before her very eyes he transformed into an exact replica of Clark.

"Like this Miss. Sullivan" J'onn said with a smile. "Just treat me as if I am Clark whilst we deal with Luthor and then we will talk about all the things you want to know" he told her before heading for the door.

Chloe had to really shake herself and follow so she didn't do anything to give away her shock at seeing this guy turn into Clark, hell he even sounded like him. It made her think of Tina Greer, and just thinking of her made her shudder and she really hoped that he would not prove as psychotic as Tina had been. Outside they found Lex standing looking up at the raging storm with interest, noticing he had company he looked down and gained a cocky smirk she really wanted to knock off his face.

"Hi Clark long time no see, you know I've kinda noticed you've been keeping a low profile of late which is so not like you" Lex said in greeting. "Don't suppose it has anything to do with this rather unique storm that is directly centered on your farm whilst the rest of Smallville and Metropolis is nice and Sunny?" he inquired.

"Still haven't given up on been paranoid about everything that just happens to be a little strange eh Lex?" J'onn responded easily adapting Clark's speaking pattern and tone. "Yes I've been sticking to the farm fixing it after you went and almost destroy the world, as for the storm I am sure it is just a random burst of mixed weather patterns creating this storm" he speculated.

"A random burst of mixed weather patterns" Lex mused still wearing his cocky grin. "A reasonable explanation I'm sure but I've learned during my time in Smallville it is never that simple, usually someone with meteor abilities is behind it all" he pointed out turning serious.

"And of course you think it is me why am I not surprised, sometimes Lex I wonder just what dark ideas swim inside that thing you call a brain when you always think the worst of someone" J'onn countered with a shake of his head. "Go home Lex, you'll find nothing here and considering the last time we talked you all but barred me from the mansion you can consider yourself barred from the farm" he suggested.

Lex was somewhat surprised by the forceful comeback but then he recalled he had indeed barred Clark after finding him in his green house and been accused of been behind another crazed plot, should he be too surprised that Clark was revoking his visitation rights to his own home. To be frank yes he was because it was somewhat unlike Clark, but he supposed finally his former friend was learning to develop a stronger skin.

"I suppose I can understand that, still if this storm is still here in a few hours I'll be back with a team to study it" Lex finally said as he turned to get back into his car.

"No you won't as I said you're not welcome here anymore and that includes all your little employee's and even Lana considering her attitude towards me during our last talk" J'onn responded darkly knowing Kal-El was not eager to see the dark haired brunette he had loved for so long but had recently begun to finally let go.

Lex again paused and glanced back at Clark who just folded his arms across his chest and watched him, his remark about Lana had actually caught him off guard as he had assumed one of the reasons he had been so recluse was due to depression from losing Lana and then her choice to date his former friend who he now believed to be evil. He had actually liked thinking of Clark suffering the loss of the love of his life, the idea he was either getting over it or had gotten over it was surprising and unexpected. Frowning slightly he finally got back into his car and reversed out before driving away, all the while calculating whether Clark had been honest in his comments especially about Lana. Finally as the farm began to vanish from his rear view mirror he decided he had been lying, Clark had been after Lana for years and he doubted he had gotten over her so quickly. He was just trying to sound strong, as for not been behind the strange storm over the farm well there he wasn't certain about Clark's explanation for it.

J'onn walked back into the house with Chloe following closely behind him trying to suppress the urge to cause Luthor to have an accident, his mind was a cesspool of paranoia, hatred, lust and an urge to gain power and dominate his entire planet. Granted his urge to gain power and dominate his people was small right now he knew it would grow, like it had with Zod and a dozen other dictators across the universe and even on this planet. But he suppressed the urge because right now Lex Luthor was not a priority right now. He checked Kal-El over once before sitting down in a nearby chair and waiting for Chloe to start questioning him, whom he knew from his long observations she would.

"Okay now that Lex is gone who are you really and how did you become Clark?" Chloe asked sitting close to Clark's unconscious body.

"As I said my name is J'onn Jones the last survivor of the planet Mars and yes Mars did indeed once support life but sadly my race was wiped out by an invading force hidden beneath the very ground of my world" J'onn explained much to Chloe's amazement. "They remain there trapped in stasis, the last gambit we had to save ourselves but sadly I was the only one to survive our final attack" he continued and Chloe's amazement turned to horror as she imagined the horror of been the sole survivor of your race as she had many times with Clark. "After the death of my world I travelled the universe visiting many worlds until I came to Krypton, there I met and befriend Jor-El one of the main leaders of the planet" he paused for a few seconds as he recalled his first meeting with the taciturn man that had been Jor-El. "He employed me as a I think the word you would understand is bounty hunter to capture and bring to trial the worst criminals of the known 28 galaxies and I became very good at my job, when Zod started the civil war I became a protector and bodyguard for Jor-El and his family until finally Krypton was destroyed but before it was Jor-El asked me for a favour which was to watch over Kal-El here on Earth and I swore to carry out that duty" he informed her.

"But where have you been all this time if you swore such an oath as Clark's life has been in constant danger since his abilities have fully kicked in?" Chloe asked during the silence that followed.

"Before I left Krypton Jor-El gave me a detailed list of the rules he wished me to abide by once I reached Earth and Kal-El had begun to develop his full range of abilities" J'onn answered. "He did not want me to get in the way of Kal-El's journey of becoming a man and the hero this world will one day need, I was only to intervene if Kal-El's life was in imamate danger" he explained.

"But his life has been at serious risk not least from Zod's two disciples then Brainiac and then finally Zod himself and let's not forget when he was without his powers and was shot dead" Chloe argued rather heatedly.

"Had Kal-El not rebelled against his Father's wishes to retrieve the three stones of power then the black ship which carried Brainiac and Zod's two best followers would never have found Earth in the first place but sadly he did rebel and blood ended up staining one of the stones thus sending out a beacon to the ship and thus it came here with its deadly passengers" J'onn answered. "I was forbidden from interfering as Jor-El felt it was Kal-El's responsibility to clean up after his failure to complete his task, as for his mortal death again I was forbidden as Jor-El had never intended to allow Kal-El to remain human for long as he still had much to learn and do" he continued. "And I know what that death cost Kal-El and I feel the loss and the pain that caused Kal-El but had he not forgone returning to the Fortress to safeguard Lana Lang when she was in no real danger he would not have ended up stripped of his powers in the first place" he pointed out carefully not wanting to set the blond off. "Jor-El sought to punish Kal-El as well as teach him a valuable lesson, first that he could not escape his destiny and second that he could not go back on his word, he gave Jor-El his word he would return to the Fortress at an appointed team and failed to keep it" he added and whilst Chloe wanted to argue that explanation she couldn't because Clark had admitted the same thing when he became human and after been shot and coming back to life with his powers intact. "Sadly Kal-El could not help trying to help people even without his powers and sadly it resulted in his death, Jor-El could not allow him to die and thus restored him to life but had he stayed clear of danger then Jor-El would have restored his powers in time without the need for Kal-El to be reborn" he finished.

"And what about Brainiac and Zod?" Chloe demanded moving on from the rather sensitive topic of Clark's resurrection.

"Again Jor-El forbade me from getting involved due to wanting Kal-El to face the consequences of his choices which always went against Jor-El's express wishes" J'onn answered with a sigh. "Kal-El has sadly spent the last five years rebelling against his destiny, every time he went against Jor-El or made the wrong choice it caused tragic consequences, consequences Jor-El wanted his son to face so he would learn that one cannot outrun one's destiny or responsibility no matter that it caused his son such pain" he stated.

"Well what did he expect with Clark growing up here knowing nothing about his origin or his purpose or the powers he would one day process, by the time Jor-El revealed himself Clark was in his mid-teens and about to embark on his fairy tale romance with Lana?" Chloe asked bitterly as that fact still rankled her all these years later no matter that she had finally moved on from Clark. The memory of seeing Clark and Lana making out that night had hurt her greatly and made her make a very bad decision to make a deal with Lionel Luthor, a deal that had almost cost her Clark's friendship.

"As you know very well Miss. Sullivan the ship and it's A.I was damaged on arrival and the key to activate it was lost until recovered at the time you just mentioned, had the damage not accrued Jor-El would have revealed himself much sooner and hopefully Kal-El would not had reacted so negatively" J'onn replied. "It has been Kal-El's constant attempts to escape the truth that has caused much of the chaos your world has undergone, hopefully now he has learned to accept the truth about who he is and why he was sent here to survive" he mused.

"Okay putting the heavy stuff aside J'onn do you know what has happened to Clark and why he is unconscious?" Chloe asked and decided to move things onto something less heavy or painful.

"He is suffering from the effects of a time storm Miss. Sullivan and I only know that due to Jor-El's avatar seeking me out to inform me, it seems whilst the Fortress is nearly devoid of power Jor-El managed to save enough to power its external sensors to detect dangers or changes to the planet including changes in time" J'onn answered leaning back. "A time storm is the result of mass changes in the timeline even if those changes have not actually accrued yet, something or someone in the future has done something to cause this storm and due to Kal-El been unconscious I would suggest it was him" he added.

"How do you know this wasn't some kind of attack aimed at Clark?" Chloe inquired taking in J'onn's answer and turning it over in her head.

"The sensors Jor-El used to detect the storm would reveal if this was an actual attack which it was not, this was a deliberate attempt to alter time and until Kal-El wakes up we may not know the reasons for it" J'onn answered with a shrug.

"Will Clark still be Clark?" Chloe asked suddenly filled with dread at the idea of Clark not even knowing who she was.

"I cannot answer that Miss. Sullivan until he wakes up, if the Fortress was fully powered we may have a better idea of what is going on but it is not and thus we have only the barest idea thanks to Jor-El still been able to transfer to his avatar" J'onn responded.

"You mean Lionel Luthor, so we have to trust him" Chloe mused in uncertainty as she was still unsure whether Lionel had really truly changed but she did know she owed him for saving her life back during dark Thursday.

"No you must trust Jor-El as Lionel Luthor currently has no knowledge he is the avatar of Jor-El just a messenger for something bigger than he is" J'onn explained before falling silent.

Chloe sat back as well fully out of questions right now and praying Clark when he finally awoke was still the same person he had been before this storm thing happened, waiting was not something she liked doing but she settled into do just that.

+TWRI+

(Luthor Mansion)

Lex returned to his desk and sat down after pouring himself a glass of whiskey, he had already ordered a small team to keep an eye on the storm and to try and get some readings from it as he was convinced Clark's reasoning for it was not the truth. Perhaps he might find something interesting in those readings, perhaps not but it didn't hurt to try. Lana soon came down to join him dressed now in some simple workout clothes, her hair was wet and it was clear she had been in the indoor gym he had set up.

"So how did you talk with Clark go?" she inquired as she poured herself some water before sitting opposite him.

"It was rather short and to the point, he of course knew nothing about the storm or where it came from or at least so he says and then he barred me from visiting the farm in the future along with anyone I employ and strangely enough you" Lex answered taking a deep gulp of whiskey. "It seems your last talk with Clark left an impression" he said with a smirk whilst Lana frowned deeply.

"As if I have any reason to go back there anyway after what he did to me" Lana spat feeling a spark of anger at learning Clark had barred her from the farm a place she had once considered a second home and almost a home had Clark not thrown her away as if she was nothing after everything she had gone through with him over the years.

"I've got a small team keeping an eye on the storm, see how long it lasts and if we can get any interesting readings from it" Lex informed her. "For now I think I'll oblige Clark and keep my distant but that does not mean I cannot keep an eye on the comings and goings on that farm, he is as always hiding something and one day I will figure it all out" he vowed as he finished his glass of whiskey.

Lana nodded and drank her own glass of water slowly as she tried to ignore the urge to go to the farm and give Clark a piece of her mind for daring to think he had the right to bar her going anywhere.

+TWRI+

(Kent Farm)

Chloe and J'onn had watched Clark's inert form for the last half hour and still he showed no signs of waking up and storm continued to wage but suddenly the storm blew itself out and the sun began to shine through the windows once more and even as Chloe moved over to the windows to look over the now sun covered fields J'onn got up to check on Clark who faster than she had ever seen him move before leaped to his feet with a look of absolute horror on his face.

"Nooooo" he cried his voice sounding broken and the look in his eyes sent a shiver of unease down Chloe's spine

Clark dropped to his knees as his mind continued to play through the various new memories it now contained whilst his heart struggled to process the emotions the memories caused him, he felt split in two as if he was two very different Clark Kent's. No that wasn't right he felt as if he was partly Clark Kent and partly Kal-El of a future that to be frank utterly terrified him. He felt Chloe kneel close to him and he immediately pulled her into a hard hug as a part of him felt as if he had not seen her for ten years, he was also aware of the presence of J'onn who he knew in one sense shouldn't be here and yet was grateful for as he would need J'onn's help in the days ahead. Chloe held onto Clark as she felt him shiver and shake in her arms and she began to get a feeling something very bad was coming and soon, because usually nothing seemed to make Clark feel fear.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter but as I said before I've had some health issues to deal with but I hope you enjoy this new chapter now it is here. Yes before anyone comments I have altered the events somewhat so Sheriff Adams survives the gunshot she received in season 5's lockdown.

+TWRI+

(Kent Farm)

Clark finally calmed down and slowly stood back up running a hand through his hair before turning to face J'onn, the Martian was standing near the window clearly waiting for him to gather his wits and notice him.

"Hello J'onn it is good to see you again even if from your perspective we've never met" he said in greeting.

"Greetings Kal-El, the mere fact you know me clearly shows Jor-El was correct that a time storm had indeed struck, may I inquire were you responsible for it in the future?" J'onn inquired.

"Not just me, you and others we will be friends and allies with in the future and it was not as easy as just using Kryptonian tech we had to splice it with Martian, Atlanta, Oa, and Thanagarian science to make it work" Clark shot back. "It was our last gambit J'onn, we had no other choice but to try or we would have let our enemies win even if by then the Earth was a wasteland and most of its people were dead or enslaved or worse willingly collaborating with the enemy" he stated darkly. "Even then it was a close thing another few minutes and it probably would have failed as I set the Fortress to blow as a fail-safe to stop it falling into the enemy's hands" he finished with a shake of his head.

"Oh god" Chloe gasped at hearing Clark mention the Earth been nothing but a wasteland in the future, it's people enslaved, dead or worse willingly working with the people who had destroyed it all but she noted Clark had refrained from mentioning who the enemy had been and her keen reporters instincts told her whoever it had been was someone they knew even now and she had a bad feeling just who it was.

"Still Kal-El to meddle with time is dangerous as you already have learned with painful consequences" J'onn pointed out softly not wanting his tone to sound as if the loss of Johnathan Kent was anything but tragic.

"I know J'onn and believe me I took that lesson to heart but I was not willing to let things end that way and everyone who was left including you agreed with the plan, I didn't even come up with the plan it was one of our allies and from there the rest of us worked on refining it until the plan was ready for implementation but by then we were facing the last few battles" Clark assured him.

"And Jor-El agreed to this plan?" J'onn inquired knowing he could not judge the merits of the plan as he did not know the true horrors Kal-El and his own future self had witnessed to make the choice they had.

"Jor-El was offline by that point, Brainiac managed to damage the A.I matrix in one of his attacks on the Fortress before I could drive him off" Clark replied. "More than likely had he remained online he would not have approved of the plan but it would have been carried out no matter what, then again had I listened to Jor-El two years ago Brainiac wouldn't even be here and the black ship would have remained lost in space but I didn't listen and blood stained one of the stones of power sending a clear beacon for the black ship to follow" he mused somewhat morbidly. "Just one of my many mistakes which helped our enemies in the long run" he added bitterly.

"Hey lug head I know you like to blame yourself for everything but I doubt your errors truly helped bring about the end of the world" Chloe quickly cut in not willing to allow her friend to shoulder the blame for this bleak future he now knew they were headed for.

"They didn't help stop it either Chloe, I might have been ready to face the threat had I just listened to my Father instead of rebelling so much to try and be something I am not just to be with Lana" Clark shot back calmly. "I thought I loved her so much I ignored every warning Jor-El gave me, when I saved you from freezing to death on our first trip to the Fortress I made a promise to return by sun down and I failed to do so just to watch over Lana who wasn't even hurt that badly and that put me on course to be killed thus requiring Jor-El to resurrect me and we both know the consequences of that resurrection" he informed her. "Yes he could be an arsehole in how he tried to make me obey him but I should have at least paid attention to his warnings, perhaps if I had we could have avoided so much" he added.

This rather startling statement stunned Chloe, even with his relationship with Lana on the outs again she had thought Clark still held deep feelings for the brunette but clearly perhaps that was no longer the case or was that more to do with these memories from the future he had attained.

Clark noted the rather curious look that passed over her face and knew why it was there. "The change of my feelings for Lana if not just because of these new memories, I've been feeling different about her since she started showing her rather obsessive behaviour about finding the black ship her inability to see Lex for what he is and finally her hatred for those with powers and a lack of understanding that just cause you have powers does not make you evil" he admitted with a sigh. "She is almost like a completely new person, one I barely recognise" he added with a shake of his head.

Here Chloe had to admit Clark was right, Lana was no longer the carefree girl she had been before the black ship had arrived perhaps even before that and her constant close calls by those affected by the meteor strike. Talking to her sometimes was difficult considering her love and loyalty to Lex Luthor of all people, the man was a monster in her eyes and had been directly responsible for dark Thursday and the hundreds of deaths that had happened during it along with the property damage that went along with those deaths. Yet Lana somehow either didn't see it or just plain ignored his role in it, of course Lex's role in the events of dark Thursday had been buried by a combination of his and his Father's efforts using the many contacts combined with the power and money they owned to ensure he was not arrested. How Lana couldn't see Lex's true face was beyond her, but she and Clark had as had her cousin Lois.

"How come you are here J'onn?" she heard Clark ask and thus focused on their conversations instead of her own thoughts. "I don't meet you until near the end of this year" he mused.

"Jor-El warned me of the time storm as I explained to Miss. Sullivan the Fortress is badly damaged but it still retains enough power for its external sensors that monitors danger and of course changes to the planet including time" J'onn answered. "Jor-El's avatar notified me of the time storm and sent me to ensure your well-being as well as to determine if you were responsible for it" he explained.

"I thought the Fortress was completely dead" Clark stated in surprise.

"It is not but it is heavily damaged and depleted of power, we must find a way to rectify this as you will need the Fortress in the future" J'onn pointed out.

"There is a way it can be done within the next few weeks, a Phantom who can absorb radiation is on Earth heading directly for Smallville and me intending to kill me his name is" Clark began to say before J'onn cut him off.

"Baern one of the most dangerous prisoners of the zone, clearly you know of him already due to your new memories how did you defeat him?" J'onn inquired. "I know Jor-El he would not allow me to interfere with you dealing with the escaped zoners unless your life was in real danger of been killed" he stated.

"I had help, Raya my Father's assistant survived the stab wound she received helping me escape the zone long enough to reach Earth so the sun could heal her" Clark answered. "She made her way here having been told of its location by Jor-El and began to teach me, she wasn't happy to learn about the Fortress nor my attempts at rebellion but she still helped me fight Baern but he managed to absorb the left over power from the black box that once powered the black ship that Lex still has and when he attacked the second time he killed her but I managed to use her crystal to draw Baern out of the boy he possessed into the crystal and then transfer the power he had absorbed into the Fortress thus reactivating it" he explained feeling the same sense of loss and pain he had felt in the future at Raya's death but he swore this time it would be different he would ensure she survived.

"Raya is known to me but I never knew she survived the destruction of Krypton" J'onn replied in surprise.

"Father sent her into the Phantom Zone to survive the destruction of our planet telling her any life was better than no life but I believe based on my new memories he truly sent her there as a fall back plan encase I ever ended up trapped there" Clark admitted. "Had she not been there I would never have escaped the zone in time to stop Zod" he pointed out.

"Great foresight" Chloe couldn't help but mutter. "So this Raya is alive right now and on her way to the farm as is this Baern dude right?" she inquired.

"Yeah but they won't get here until somewhere in the next two weeks and sadly I can't even go looking for Raya as I don't know where she is right now" Clark answered.

"Why would it take this Raya so long to get here if she has your powers?" Chloe asked moving into the kitchen area and putting the kettle on as she really felt like a drink.

"She is probably enjoying been free of the zone and doesn't know about the other zoners who escaped and more than likely she knows I beat Zod if she has seen the news somewhere and noted there has been no mention of an alien takeover" Clark surmised with a shrug as he and J'onn followed her.

"Having been trapped in a nightmare realm for what must have felt like centuries I do not believe Raya would pass up the chance to explore and enjoy the wonders this world offers those of us who are not native to it" J'onn advised. "The Fortress may be able to detect her if we can home the sensors to detect Kryptonian life signs" he suggested.

"It would find four" Clark told him as he helped Chloe make them all something to drink. "Raya and I are not the only Kryptonian's here" he revealed.

"I know of no one else who survived the destruction of the zone Kal-El and neither does Jor-El" J'onn pointed out. "Who else is here on Earth?" he inquired with great interest.

"Dax-Ur one of the original creators of Brainiac has been on Earth for the last seventy years hiding, he has a family having used blue Kryptonite to dampen his powers so he is basically just as human as anyone else on this planet" Clark answered. "My cousin Kara is also here frozen in stasis within her ship which crashed into Reeves damn where is has rested for the last fifteen years, and before you say it yes my uncle Zor-El was an ally of Zod and partly responsible for the destruction of Krypton but Kara is innocent of his actions and a true daughter of the house of El" he added his tone changing to a more challenging one at the end.

J'onn blinked a little quickly put off the protest he was about to make about Kara Zor-El by Kal-El's statement, he recalled ejecting Zor-El along with his family from their home in the capital to be banished to Kandor which was where Zor-El would cause the most damage although none of them could have known that at the time. Kara Zor-El and her Mother Alura had ended up placed in the same box as Zor-El as enemies of the planet and especially traitors to their house, but clearly if Kal-El's tone was anything to go by they had been wrong to do so.

"One thing I have to know Clark is who brought about the end of the world, you mentioned an enemy but you've not named them and my instincts tell me it is because we already know them" Chloe inquired.

"Because we do, Lex in the next couple of years turns into a power hungry dictator and he won't be alone he will make allies with various powered and non-powered but skilled villains" Clark admitted with a sigh having expected that question from his blond friend. "He will six years from now break into the Fortress and release Zod and his followers and from there war quickly followers, we will have our own allies but we'll soon end up on losing ground and people" he continued. "I was nowhere near ready to fight a war having spent so much time trying to escape my destiny and I especially wasn't ready to go from a hero to a solider ready to kill, the others including J'onn managed to face the change quicker but I always held back due to how I was raised to never abuse my powers and my fear of becoming like Zod should I step over the line and thus when I had my one chance at ending Zod I failed to take it" he explained.

"You could never be like Lex or Zod Clark hell even when you were under the effects of red Kryptonite all you became was a selfish jerk not the next dictator wannabe" Chloe scoffed at the idea. Clark couldn't help but actually smile at the show of support combined with a slight dig at his warped personality whilst under red kryptonite.

"Thanks Chloe but maybe if I had adapted faster I might have ended the war before it got too destructive, hell Kara brow beat me with my hesitancy all the way to the end and she was right" he responded. "The woman I fell in love with in the future was an Amazon warrior Princess trained in battle and she always knew when the time came to fight and if it was called for to kill and I never judged her or any of the others who crossed the line, none of them developed a taste for killing and I doubt they would have allowed me to" he told her. "I just let my fear rule me too much, and we paid for it" he stated.

"You judge yourself too harshly Kal-El, the Kent's were chosen as your guardians so they would teach you the right values of life. Values that would become bound to the very core of who you are and who you will one day become, the same values that allowed Jor-El to lead your people through the darkest days of the civil war that destroyed Krypton" J'onn stated. "That you held onto those values even in the face of so much death and destruction shows he did not chose the wrong family to raise his son" he added.

Clark just nodded knowing J'onn had made a very valid point, Martha and Jonathan Kent had been chosen to be his guardians and guides to this world. Chosen to raise him to be a hero not a monster, that choice had come about from Jor-El's own time on Earth where he had met Hiram Kent and been aided by him even when he was accused of murdering Louise McCallum showing his good character. Still he had seen how tightly holding onto what they had taught him had in the end crippled him in a sense, stopped him from ever fully embracing the role of solider. Diana had never forced him to step into that role understanding his fear having once shared it when she finally discovered she was actually Zeus's daughter instead of moulded from clay as she had been brought up to believe, having access to his power had scared her at first but she had learnt to master it as time passed just as he had mastered his powers. Thinking of Diana made his heart ache with the need to see her but he knew right now he would more than likely fail to breech the magical barrier that protected the home of the Amazons, still the urge to fly there remained if only to see her from afar.

"Clark you okay?" Chloe asked noticing the faraway look in her friend's eyes.

"Yeah sorry Chloe just it's hard having two sets of memories, one is my own and the other is my future self's and they don't always seem to gel well like when I look at you I sense the usual happiness at seeing a friend and yet I also feel a sense of loss so deep it feels like a physical wound" Clark replied trying to explain a concept he truly hadn't got a handle on yet. Plus he did not want to get into a deep discussion about Diana with Chloe just yet; he was still coming to terms with just how wrong he had been about his feelings for Lana.

He had always believed he was in love with Lana hence pursuing her for years even when she was with first Whitney and then later on Jason, kept making fatal errors to protect her even when he either needed to be somewhere else or worse when she was in no real danger. Yet seeing his future relationship with Diana made his feelings for Lana seem so weak, even when he had been with Lana the relationship had never truly been an equal partnership due to her lack of knowledge of his true origins. And even when they were on an equal footing next year the relationship was broken by Lana's lies and her affair with the Phantom version of himself, something he had noted his future self had known she had felt no remorse for.

"Once the Fortress is repaired it can help you adapt to the new memories Kal-El" J'onn told him. "I suppose now I must ask what you will do with the information you now process?" he inquired.

"Exactly what we planned either stop the war before it can even begin or at least be better prepared to face it, whilst the easiest solution would be to make Lex vanish he hasn't gone over the line yet not completely" Clark answered with a sigh. "Yes he has begun experimenting on the meteor infected and on Kryptonite, started delving into rather dark areas of science he has so far not killed anyone is his rise to darkness" he continued. "We could expose his dealings and set him back years, perhaps if we are lucky get him sent to jail for a year or two but he'd get out and then he would be in the wind eager to strike back at the earliest opportunity whereas if I leave him where he is I know almost exactly what he will do for the next two years and onwards" he pointed out. "The worst outcome if we move against him now would be one of his future partners taking charge and the majority of them are bat shit insane and predicting their plans is almost impossible, so for now I think it is best to leave Lex as he is and just use my memories to derail his plans whilst tracking down our allies and making them ready to face a possible war" he finished not admitting the idea of one of Luthor's future insane partners been the one who starts the war chilled him.

Chloe frowned not exactly behind Clark's idea of leaving Lex in a position of power just because he was easy to predict and Clark knew most of his plans, what Clark seemed to be forgetting was Lex was a snake devious and clever and easily able to slither out of any entanglement with the law. Still what he said made sense, Lex did have a predictable personality and with Clark knowing the majority of his moves for the next few years would make keeping him in check easier.

"Okay enough talk for now me and J'onn will head to the Fortress and reconfigure the sensors to locate Kryptonian life signs, Chloe I think you should head back home I will meet you later as we need a private talk about a few things" Clark said as the silence that had descended continued.

"We cannot leave just yet Kal-El I sense the farm is been monitored from the nearby field by some of Luthor's teams men, clearly he did not take my warning to stay away seriously" J'onn warned him having done a quick sweep with his telepathy.

"Damn it, well I can deal with them easily enough" Clark growled not surprised Lex had ignored J'onn's warning which must have been given when he was unconscious and more than likely posing as him.

He moved over to the phone and picked up and dialled the number for the Smallville police station, it was picked up after five rings and he quickly asked for Sheriff Adams who in his opinion was lucky to still be alive after been almost fatally shot the year before by two cops who'd had mental break downs after witnessing the landing of the black ship and the destruction two of Zod's followers caused. The bullet had missed her heart by mere inches thus saving her life; she had spent months healing and getting back to a working state and two months earlier had returned to work as Sheriff months ahead of time. That was good news for them as Adams took shit from no one not even Lex Luthor, whilst her temporary replacement had either feared Lex too much or was on his payroll. Once Adams was on he quickly explained the situation and was unsurprised to hear the Sheriff swear then order two of her deputy's to head to the field and arrest the men watching the farm whilst she paid a visit to Lex, he almost smiled as he imagined the annoyance this would cause his former friend.

"So we wait?" Chloe inquired once he put the phone down.

"All we can do, we cannot give Lex anything to suspect something has changed Chloe" Clark insisted to which she nodded.

+TWRI+

(Luthor Mansion half an hour later)

Nancy Adams pulled her cruiser up outside the mansion she had grown to hate having to come too especially after almost been killed here the year before, she had been shot in the back by one of her former deputies who had gone completely insane. Harris and Flynn had been fired having suffering almost identical breakdowns during the second meteor shower that had struck Smallville, both testified that the deaths of their comrades during that had time had been committed by aliens who had come in a black ship. They had attacked the Luthor believing he had custody of the ship and knew what had happened to the aliens, Luthor had managed to save himself and Lana Lang by getting into his panic room but the an alarm had been triggered in their break into the mansion and she had arrived to check it out and then been shot by one of her own people. By sheer luck the shot had missed her heart and whilst she had suffered extreme blood loss she had somehow survived, she had then spent almost half a year in hospital recovering and getting back into shape to come back to work and she had managed it two months earlier than most believed she would a fact she was proud off. Still coming back here was not something she looked forward too, whilst both Harris and Flynn were dead the impact of what they had done had left a mark on her as had this place, still she had a job to do. Her deputies had already arrested the three men who had been scoping out the Kent farm and as Clark had suspected they worked for Luthor had in the last year since losing the friendship of Clark Kent grown an obsession on knowing his whereabouts and the goings on at his home. She didn't understand why the rich twit was obsessed with the son of a farmer but he was, she'd seen it quite a lot since coming to Smallville even when they had been friends. Getting out of her car she entered the mansion and headed straight for the main living room where Luthor could usually be found, as expected Luthor was sitting behind his desk reviewing something on his laptop which she noted he quickly closed up on noticing her.

"Sheriff Adams this is a surprise" Lex said leaning back whilst inside he was angered to see the woman not only in his home but back on the job as well.

For the last year he'd had the replacement Sheriff in his back pocket willing to look the other way whilst he carried out his plans, but now Adams had returned earlier than it had been expected and before he could finally get around to making a pitch to the town council to ensure she could not return first due to her wounds and second the fact that two of her deputies had gone mad and almost killed him, Lana and Adams herself without her even seeing the threat they represented.

"I doubt it Mr. Luthor I really do" Adams shot back. "Three of your men have been arrested whilst they were illegally staking out the Kent Farm, now seen as Mr. Kent reported to me you and he had a rather heated conversation where he barred you and your people coming to the farm without real cause in response to your barring of him coming here it seems to me you clearly didn't get the message or more than likely didn't take his warning seriously" she told him.

Lex wanted to growl in anger at his men been found out as he had told them to keep their heads down whilst they were observing the Farm but clearly they had fouled up and been spotted, worse it seems Clark had been serious about warning him and his employee's away from the farm.

"They were sent there only to monitor the strange storm that hit the area only around the Kent Farm nothing more I assure you Sheriff" he finally responded as calmly as he could.

"And since when did your people become weather experts Mr. Luthor?" Adams inquired almost sarcastically. "Now I've noticed even before I was shot in the process of trying to save your life that you and Mr. Kent have been at odds and you've developed an almost obsessive interest in his business and then there is also the fact his Father beat you for the senate seat which then passed to his wife after his sad passing before anyone even thought to ask you the runner up and that must have angered you" she pressed. "So I am going to suggest you take his warning to heart and stay away from him and keep your people away as well, that means you don't pay unexpected visits to the farm and you don't send your people to spy on it either and I am sure Mr. Kent will heed your own warning to stay away from the mansion" she advised with a cold smile that angered Lex but he managed to keep his face emotionless. "Your people will be released tomorrow and this is the only warning I give you Mr. Luthor, I won't have you harassing good people and I doubt Senator Kent will be pleased to hear about you spying on her home and son either so do yourself a favour and stay away" she warned him before she turned and left the mansion knowing she had angered the man no matter that he was keeping his temper in front of her.

Lex watched her go knowing the woman had managed to get one up on him, he dared not challenge her right now as she had a lot of support from the public and the council for returning from an almost life ending injury. And more than likely if he had lost his temper she would just arrest him as she did not fear him and nor would she sell out to him, gritting his teeth he got and moved to his drink's stand and poured himself a large glass of whiskey and downed half of it. He was still surprised Clark had clearly meant his warning, he was done allowing him to just turn up at the farm or his people and if he wondered if he had meant keeping Lana away as well, for now he'd have to back off or he would have Adams all over him and he could ill afford that will 33.1 coming along nicely along with his other deals. But if Adams ever got a hit he was up to something illegal she'd come down on him like a ton a bricks and set him back millions, he wouldn't risk it. He could be patient and he was certain there was a way to get Adams out of the way, surely coming back so early could have unforeseen negative drawbacks he thought savagely.

+TWRI+

(Fortress of Solitude)

Clark sighed as he looked around the red lit Fortress and black crystals that signified the damage it had undergone, due to his choice to ignore Jor-El's warning to kill Zod's vessel and instead chose to use the dagger he had been given on Brainiac which had been just what the A.I had wanted. Using the dagger the A.I had opened a portal from which Zod had escaped the zone and possessed Lex's body and then damaged the Fortress almost completely, he recalled how Raya had reacted when she had seen the damage it had sustained due to his choice. He had messed up and it had cost him, perhaps had the Fortress never been damaged Raya might have lived during their confrontation with Baern. Moving over to the command console he began to input the sequence that would alter the sensors search patterns to detect Kryptonian life signs, thankfully he was still able to make the alterations needed.

A map suddenly popped up on a holographic screen. "There she is in Australia, more than likely still recovering from been stabbed and not yet fully mastered her powers" Clark pointed out to J'onn. "That is Dax-Ur in Texas and this faded dot is Kara frozen in stasis within her ship trapped in Reeves Dam and I am of course here in the Fortress" he added pointing out each dot.

"I wonder if Jor-El knew about Dax-Ur and Kara." J'onn couldn't help but ask.

"More than likely as all he had to do was run a sweep for additional Kryptonian life signs which I am sure he did but he did not deem to share that knowledge just as he did not share a hell of a lot with me which just helped keep our relationship strained for many years after this" Clark responded absently. "We'll go find Raya tomorrow, for now I want you to keep an eye on Lex whilst I talk with Chloe about a few personal matters" he requested.

"Very well Kal-El, but I would be better put to use tracking down Baern and ending the threat he represents to you" J'onn pointed out.

"I can't ask you to do that J'onn, I released the Phantoms from the zone and it is my responsibility to put them back and Baern I owe putting away personally for killing Raya in my the memories I now hold" Clark insisted. "Granted I won't be able to beat all of them alone but Baern I must fight alone, if only to settle the emotions Raya's death brings up even though that event hasn't happened yet" he said trying to explain his reasoning.

"I understand Kal-El but Baern is dangerous and must not be underestimated" J'onn warned as he floated upwards and prepared to leave.

"I know and I don't plan to underestimate him" Clark assured him before he turned and ran out of the Fortress still unsure whether he had access to all of his powers now or not, he swore he would do some testing once he had talked to Chloe about two subjects he knew were going to cause some explosive reactions from his friend.


	4. Chapter 4

+TWRI+

(Talon Upper Apartment)

Chloe looked up as her door opened and Clark entered without knocking not that it would be the first time he had done so, but it seemed to her he had entered faster so as to get to the point of why he was here. She was somewhat nervous as to why he had come to see here so soon, clearly it had something to do with her but she couldn't see what. She got up and headed for the kitchen and began to make them both a cup of coffee, something told her this conversation would go better with something to drink.

"Ok Clark give it to me straight" she told him as she handed him his cup and sat back down and waited for him to sit across from her.

"There are two things that affect you Chloe and both are rather personal but please try and stay calm and do not do anything rash" Clark began taking a small gulp of coffee as he considered which topic to raise first before deciding on telling her about her meteor power that would show this year. "First you have a meteor power which will begin to show this year but unlike those powers we've seen in others yours is more set to healing people rather than harming them but it does come with a price in that it drains you of energy each time you use it" he informed her as gently as he could. "In fact the first time you use it which was to save Lois's life we thought it had killed you and I found you in the morgue after battling the last phantom which escaped the zone when I did and took my dna so as to make himself a body like mine with my memories but was the opposite of everything I am" he admitted. "It will eventually burn itself out within two years or more depending on how you use it but you don't have to worry about going crazy, it doesn't affect you mentally honestly" he assured her as he noted she had paled as he had spoken before taking a deep gulp from her cup to sooth her nerves which he knew had to be wired now.

Chloe's mind was a jumble as she tried to grasp what Clark was telling her, that she was meteor infected and would develop a power to go with that infection sometime this year. It was a terrifying thing to even think about, for the last couple of years she, Clark, Lana, Pete and yes even Lex had fought off numerous meteor freaks who wanted nothing but to kill them with only very few been decent people who actually helped. That she was to be one of those people who had powers chilled her but she took some comfort from the fact that Clark said it would burn itself out in time, but she didn't like the fact this so called power to heal would drain her so badly as to make people believe her to be dead.

"Another thing during a night out with Lana your infection will become known to Lex who is using the offer of curing Tobias Rice's blindness to his own benefit as Tobias can detect other meteor infected people" Clark warned her. "He will have you kidnapped and implanted with a chip to monitor you, but you have me burn it out of you when we learn he is killing the other meteor infected people he is monitoring" he admitted knowing this information wouldn't go down well and when combined with the news he still has to tell her about her Mother he worried what Chloe might do but still best she know now then find out like she did in his memories. "You have to ensure you don't expose yourself to him, best he not find out about your gift" he insisted to which she nodded still

"You said it would burn itself out how? I mean would that have happened to the others who have powers as well" she asked finally focusing her mind again.

"We find out you have a large amount of Kryptonite near your heart which is what gives you your ability to heal through your tears, I'm guessing each time you use your gift it uses up the Kryptonite you process until it can no longer power your ability" Clark speculated in response as they had never fully worked out why Chloe's power had itself burned out been too busy dealing with other things. "As to the others burning out had they lived I wouldn't know, Sarah, Jordon and Kyle had powers that never faded before their deaths so I still can't say for sure" he added with a frown.

Chloe jerked somewhat at the three names Clark had spoken as it was a good reminder that not every meteor infected person they had met had been evil, so knowing she should not fear developing her own power because they proved she would not go crazy as long she kept perspective on things. Finishing off her coffee she sat her cup down and leaned back and decided she would prepare as best she could for this power to heal she would gain, she also vowed she would not allow Lex to find out about it as she had no desire to become one of his lab experiments.

"Okay Clark that's point one what's point two?" she inquired as Clark finished of his own coffee.

"I need you to keep your temper under control for this next one because I promise you I will help you deal with it in such a way that it has a better outcome than it did in the future I now remember" Clark told her leaning forward so he could look her in the eye and ensure she could see her was serious about his promise. "You are not the only one in your family who has a meteor power Chloe, the real reason your Mother left was because she had the power to control other people including you and one day she accidently made you scrub your hands raw until they bled and she realised the danger she represented to you and your dad" he explained. "She then fell into a catatonic state and ended up in a mental institute as you found out, sadly and this is where you need to stay calm Lex somehow finds out about her ability and has her transferred to one of his labs where he will eventually develop a drug to wake her up so he can force her to control other meteor infected people" he informed her.

Chloe instantly saw red at this piece of news but through a monumental effort managed to stop herself from launching into a heated spiral of anger at Lex, but only because she remembered Clark had promised to help resolve this with a better outcome than the former timeline he now recalled. That made her heart skip as she feared what had happened to her Mother in that timeline, forcing the anger down she indicated for Clark to go on.

"She will use her power on you to try and either kill Lex or expose his dealings thus making us aware of the fact she was taken, you will end up in the lab as well when Lex has his people capture you and I will follow just in time to stop you killing Lex during an abortive escape attempt by you and your Mother using one of meteor infected people he had in the lab" Clark continued once he had noted Chloe had calmed herself down. "We got your Mother out but what we failed to understand was we needed to grab the drug Lex used to bring her out of her catatonic state, thus within a period of several hours she returned to her catatonic state but we were able to get her to a safe place where Lex couldn't find her again" he went on noting the spark of regret and anger this information caused her. "But I promise this time we will get the drug as well, but we need to plan breaking into that lab carefully and we'll need help thus we need to wait until J'onn and I first track down Raya tomorrow and then we'll meet with one of our future allies who just so happens to be Lois's new interest" he cautioned her and ending with a smile by mentioning one of the their allies been her cousin's new love interest.

"Oliver Queen, what can he do?" Chloe asked in surprise even as she fought to the urge to argue over waiting to recover her Mother.

But she knew Clark had a point they had to plan breaking into the lab that held her, they also had to identify what the drug was that Lex had created to bring her Mother back to a wakeful state. Without that drug her Mother was doomed to fall back into her catatonic state, and that she was not willing to allow happen. So she would wait and be patient and then she would rescue her Mother and get the drug that would allow her to live her life, she knew Clark would keep his promise because when it mattered he always came through for the people he cared for.

"Oliver is forming a team starting with people we have met including Bart Allen, Victor Stone and Arthur Curry another of Lois's romantic interests if you'll recall" Clark answered. "We'll join forces with them and in time we'll become a real team working with J'onn and others to stop people like Lex and others out to cause death and mayhem, they all have skills and abilities that will help us but we'll go into all that tomorrow at some point" he told her.

"How is it nearly everyone we meet ends up either with powers or is connected to someone who has them?" Chloe asked with a shake of her head.

"Luck or fate take your pick" Clark shot back. "Or maybe we just attract them" he mused leaning back. "Chloe I need your word you won't try anything against Lex until we are ready to get your Mom" he said seriously.

"And you have it Clark because you are right we need to plan carefully to retrieve her and we need to identify the right drug he uses to wake her up before we go in, so I will wait and be patient you don't have to worry about me going off on my own" Chloe assured her. "But promise me when the time is right we will bring Lex down and make him pay for it all" she demanded with a voice of steel.

"I promise you Chloe when it is time Lex will pay and hopefully before he can doom the world to hell, but we can't make a move on him fully just yet because it may accidently let one of his more insane followers take his place and cause an even more destructive future to befall us" Clark promised. "Remember time does not like to be messed with, last time out dad died because in the previous timeline I died and balance had to be restored and I did not like that it was Lana at that time" he reminded her. "If we remove Lex, time might put someone else in his position to ensure events play out as before or at least as close to what I remember" he speculated.

"I'd like to argue that point just knowing what he has done with my Mother or will do but I can't, we learnt the hard way that messing with time for whatever reason no matter even if it is for the greater good will have consequences and bad ones at that" Chloe reluctantly agreed with a sigh.

"Guess I'd best head back, it's getting late and you need to sleep" Clark said glad Chloe understood his reluctance to attack Lex straight of the bat.

"Stay on the couch Clark, it would be nice to have someone here in case I can't sleep with all this going on in my head" Chloe insisted getting up and heading into her bedroom for a spare blanket and pillow he could use.

"Sure thing let me just pop back to the farm and feed Shelby and the other animals and I'll be right back" Clark agreed and quickly supersped out of the apartment and back to the farm and fed all of the animals including Shelby before locking up and returning to the apartment in record time. "Back" he said with a smile as Chloe finished making up the couch long used to his vanishing trick.

"Here couch is ready, thanks for staying" Chloe said as she headed back to her room.

Clark laid down after removing his boots, shirts and trousers leaving him in a t-shirt and boxers. He quickly got comfortable and noticed Chloe had turned the lights off as well, closing his eyes he waited to drift off to sleep.

+TWRI+

(Luthor Mansion)

Lex looked over the diagrams of the power unit from the now destroyed black ship he had found in this very room once he had come back from whatever Fine had done to him, he still didn't recall anything from the moment he was abducted nor anything from dark Thursday but he knew it was all connected to Fine, the crystals he had once sought out two years ago and the cave with all the strange symbols they contained. All of it was connected somehow but that was an answer just beyond him, but that was could wait this power unit if he could find some way to repair or replicate so as to create a new form of power he could sell for billions. It would put Luthorcorp on the map in a way nothing else had, it would eclipse everything his Father had done when he was CEO of the company and make his name not his Father's remembered for all time. But first he had to unlock the secret of how it worked in the first place; he glanced up as Lana entered the room dressed in a silk nightgown that showed of her wonderful body to his gaze.

"Are you coming to bed anytime soon Lex?" Lana inquired moving over to the bar and making herself a glass of water she could enjoy.

"In a few minutes Lana I'm just going over these blueprints again, it's like an irritating puzzle that is just out of reach of been solved" he admitted as she sat across from him sipping from her glass. "This power unit is the key to a glorious future for us both but only if I can solve how the damn thing works, if only Fine wasn't dead maybe I could beat the damn answers out of him" he growled as he hated puzzles.

"Fine was dangerous and was always a step ahead of us Lex even you" Lana pointed out shivering as she recalled the man who had been behind Lex's abduction and his possession of that Zod guy who had caused dark Thursday. "I'm glad he's dead" she admitted as she downed the rest of her glass of water. "As for working out how to make this power thing work I am sure given time you will manage to unlock it's secrets, you are one of the smartest men I know and you have tons of brilliant scientists working for you so they can help" she assured him confidently making him smile at her view of him which stoked his ego. "What you need now is to rest and gain a fresh perspective on this, sometimes you can't see the answer because you are looking at the problem too hard" she told him utilising the same piece of advice Martha Kent had once given her.

Lex considered her for a few minutes before nodding his head in agreement; staring at the diagrams and the box itself was not going to give him any answers this night. Getting up he put both in his safe located next to his book shelf, it was full of many items he had collected over the years. Many were artefacts connected to the caves found during his hunt for the stones; others were priceless pieces of art and jewellery once owned by his Mother. Placing the diagrams and box inside a metal container he sealed it and then then vault itself, taking Lana by the hand he guided her out of the room and up to their bedroom causing her to smile.

Outside unseen by either Lex or Lana they were watched by J'onn who as asked kept watch on the man who had destroyed the world in the future Kal-El had already seen, he paid close attention as to where Luthor kept the power source that had once powered the black ship. Getting it should be easy enough when it was time thanks to his powers, rising up he flew off towards the farm only to find it pitch black and thus showed Kal-El was either asleep which he doubted as he did not detect any brain patterns from inside the house. That meant Kal-El had clearly stayed somewhere else probably Miss. Sullivan's considering he went there to talk with her thus he would leave his report till tomorrow. He flew upwards into the night sky before heading for his safe haven to rest, he suspected from here on out things would be chaotic.

+TWRI+

(Luthorcorp)

Lionel Luthor sat in the high-rise office staring out into the dark night time sky lost in through, granted the office was no longer his but seen as his son was at the mansion he doubted he would mind him using it. He was concerned with the path his son had begun to walk down, it led to nowhere good as he had already sunk into the abyss and almost drowned. But he had been offered a lifeline when he had come into contact with one of the stones of power which had first come to his attention during his time as a member of Virgil Swan's secretive group Veritas, somehow it had not only healed him from a disease which was killing him but also transformed him and made him begin abandoning the abyss and claw his way out of the dark towards the light. Now it was almost as if he knew something or was a part of something bigger than himself, but he did not know what it was just that he was its messenger. There were times when he seemed to black out and lose all sense of self only to then find himself somewhere other than where he had been, it was maddening not knowing but he knew somehow that in time he would have the answers he sought. Still back to his son, Lex was losing himself in the darkness that had once dominated his life and he saw no way of stopping him from descending even deeper than he had ever gone.

Lex had already almost cost the world its freedom when he unleashed Zod unto the world through his work with Fine/Brainiac, were it not for Clark's defiance and will to save everyone Zod would now rule this world and they would all be dead or worse enslaved to a dictator. He was worried what Lex would bring about next in his search for power and wealth, in his endless search for the truth about Clark and in his search to surpass everything he his Father had done. Letting out a sigh he got up and moved to the nearby bar and made himself a glass of wine and took a small gulp before looking out into the dark sky again, he needed to start making plans to try and reel Lex in before he caused even more havoc.

+TWRI+

(Talon Upper Apartment)

Clark jerked awake as the nightmare faded into the background of his mind, no not so much a nightmare but memories of a future yet to happen which with luck would never happen. Rubbing his face he wondered what time it was before remembering he had a watch on, getting up as quietly as he could he moved over to the window and tried to catch the moons light on his watch but failed. He then looked around until he noticed the digital clock above Chloe's TV; it read 2:55 which showed it was still too damn early to do anything as he didn't want to wake Chloe. Sitting back down on the sofa he leaned back knowing if he was on the farm he could at least go out and do some chores as he was used to getting up early but not this early. Sudden movement made him look up to see Chloe stumble out of her room rubbing her eyes and yawning clearly still half asleep, she didn't notice he was up as she headed for the kitchen and put the kettle on clearly intent on making herself something to drink.

"You okay Chloe?" he inquired almost making her jump before she seemed to recall he had stayed over at her own insistence.

"Bad night, my mind had trouble shutting down properly so I was asleep off and on throughout the night" Chloe admitted as he moved to her at the kitchen after turning on one of her lamps. "And don't say sorry, I needed to know what you told me Clark it's just taking some times to process but I will" she added cutting Clark off as he went to apologise before looking sheepishly at her.

"I know how you feel I woke up too way earlier than normal, on the farm I am usually up at six or close enough to it to begin my chores and if I end up getting up earlier than that I can still do that but this time due to my new memoires I am up now earlier than ever" Clark admitted as Chloe poured them both some tea.

"Must be worse for you actually having memories of the events in question in your head whilst my mind makes up things related to what you told me" Chloe stated sitting down on a nearby stool as Clark did the same.

"It is a mass of memory containing 19 years of hell Chloe, which is how long it takes for the world to end in fire" Clark told her grimly "Doesn't seem like much does it and yet so damn much happens in those 19 years that it seemed so much longer" he went on his gaze growing distant. "So many memories of dark disturbing horrors Chloe, that is what is in my head and I thought suffering in the Phantom Zone was bad it is nothing compared to what is coming" he paused and took a long gulp from his cup before continuing. "19 years is all it takes for Lex and Zod to bring utter ruin to us all" he finished with a sad shake of his head.

"You know I would have called you crazy if you have sent your memories back to when we first met Lex, he never seemed the type back then but now I have no doubt he could do it" Chloe said with a shake of his head.

"I agree something happened to him that changed him from a friend and someone we could trust to a psycho wanting nothing but power over everyone else no matter who it is" Clark agreed but there was no split emotion in him because all his new memories told him was that he had been right to end his friendship with Lex and that he could not be trusted. "Possibly from the accident he had two years ago when he was split in two, one good half and one bad half but it was always possible when he was put back together the good half of his personality was subsumed by the bad half or just lost in the binding" he speculated before downing some of his tea.

"Makes sense I suppose but I doubt there is anything good or redeeming in him anymore" Chloe stated seriously as she downed her own tea to which Clark nodded in agreement unable to argue.

As he had thought previous unlike with other things like seeing Chloe again he did not have two different reactions to what Lex became in the future, it had just confirmed the man was truly lost in his own darkness.

"So Clark this warrior princess you fell in love with in the future, who was she?" Chloe inquired after a brief silence descended between them and decided to change the subject to something a bit more normal.

Clark let out a pained sigh just thinking about Diana made him ache to see her but he knew he couldn't not just yet, his memory of seeing her dead made his heart feel like lead. He should have known that Chloe wouldn't have missed his mention of falling in love, still if he had anything to say about it he intended to ensure no one would ever harm Diana again.

"Her name was Diana and as I said she was princess of her people the ancient Amazons of Greek myth just so happens not to be myth at all" Clark told her with a small smile. "She was beauty personified but her looks with only part of what drew me to her, she was smart, caring, had a sense of honour and wisdom beyond anyone else I knew" he continued. "She taught me a lot including how to fight without my powers, I met just after she came to our world as her people's champion to try and spread the word of peace but that did not mean she was afraid to throw down as I said she was a warrior born and raised" he paused as he finished his tea and put his cup on the counter. "We bonded on a level I've never felt before, learning about her world and that everything we had once thought of as myths were real was astounding just as my world amazed her and I never felt nervous or afraid of telling her the truth about who I am beyond the hero I was at that point" he went on. "She was a great source of strength and focus when things turned bad, even more so when it devolved into war" he finished.

Chloe had to say she was honestly surprised at the way Clark was describing this woman because it was clear she meant a hell of a lot more to him than Lana ever did, it was in his very tone as he spoke. She had never heard him speak so passionately about someone including Lana, now she fully believed he could be over Lana especially if he knew what kind of relationship awaited him.

"She sounds like a wonderful woman, did I ever meet her?" Chloe inquired with interest.

"Yes you did actually, you were still thankfully alive when Diana first appeared" Clark answered. "You were friends and got on well with each other, your death saddened her greatly and I doubt I would have come to terms with your loss without Diana's support" he admitted at the end. "Like I said it left an almost physical wound losing you, it's why I reacted the way I did when I first woke up after getting my future memories" he explained. "Until the fortress is fixed so I can ensure the memories gel with my mind in the here and now I am going to be prone to some erratic behaviour concerning certain people and places" he warned her.

Chloe wanted desperately to ask how she died in the war to come but decided now was not the time to ask, but the fact it had clearly left its mark on Clark in the future showed just how deep their friendship was. She supposed she should feel relieved she did not live to see just how bad the world had gotten as Lex, Zod and their armies rampaged across the globe until there was nothing but rubble left. She dreaded to imagine the way the world had looked during the last battle; just how much of what she knew had been destroyed.

"I take it putting you and Lex in the same room would be bad news then if that is true?" she inquired finally as she finished off her own cup of tea.

"More than likely, so far I've not had to confront Lex and experience just what emotions my new memories would invoke" Clark said. "More than likely hatred, rage and the urge to kill and that is not a good thing in the here and now Chloe" he added frowning. "Especially not for me" he stared to which Chloe had to agree.

Lois had told her how Clark had almost killed Tim Westcott in blind rage after Tim had murdered Alicia Baker and tried to frame her for attempting to kill Lana and Jason, she knew better than Lois that Clark could easily had torn Tim's head off but chose not to. Instead he had attempted to strangle Tim to death slowly in his anger, Lois had managed to talk him down or perhaps her prompting had managed to help Clark regain control of himself to stop but it had been close. She had seen him affected by red kryptonite and the rage his alter ego Kal had shown, she did not want to know what Clark was capable of if he ever truly lost it.

"By the way why didn't you send your memories back to when you first met Lex and learnt about been an alien?" Chloe inquired recalling her earlier statement and wondering why they hadn't sent the memories back to a point where Lex would be easier to handle and give them more time to stop him.

"We had no idea where in the timeline our signal would reach Chloe it was literally like we throwing a stone into the air and not knowing where it would land, that it came back so far is blind luck" Clark answered remember the many conversations he'd had with Bruce, J'onn, Barbara, Victor and Hiro about how far they could send the signal and not one of them could come up with a clear answer. They all agreed it could be a few years at most to a point even before the war had broken out if they were lucky; lucky was the key word there. "Plus I suppose I should be grateful it didn't reach so far back as when we first met Lex, most of our allies wouldn't be active and I would be nowhere near ready to deal with the memories I now possess" he explained. "More than likely it would send me insane, worse I wouldn't even have your help as back then you had no knowledge of my secret and had not mellowed out on your intent to be the greatest reporter ever" he stated.

"Hey even back then I would never have told anyone about you Clark if I had found out, granted the urge would probably have been stronger but I would never have betrayed you" Chloe insisted even if privately she wondered if her younger self could have resisted the urge.

She recalled how three years back her jealously had led her to make her ill-fated deal with Lionel so she could have an internship at the Daily Planet, she had done it without any concern as to what it could do to her friendship with Clark and in the end it had almost cost her everything including her life. She had come so very close to losing Clark as a friend and then later after backing out of her deal with Lionel her life when he tried to kill her, so could she really say her younger self would have resisted the story of the century if she had found out about Clark back then? No she probably couldn't but she hoped she would have.

"Chloe I know you would never personally betray my secret not in a million years but that is because you've matured and learned there are more important things than a story, but even you have to admit your younger self wanted nothing more than to find the hottest story and learning about me back then would have been a huge temptation for you and neither of us could say how you would have reacted" Clark replied with a smile.

"No I suppose not but I would like to give myself the benefit of the doubt, but I did do a lot of stupid things back then when trying to get answers to a story and didn't know when to back off" Chloe shot back with her own smile knowing Clark was just been honest.

"It's how we learn Chloe, just a damn shame I am a slow learner" Clark mused his tone suddenly turning dark. "I keep making the same mistakes again and again, and I would make them again in the next four years in the memories I have now" he admitted with a shake of his head before letting out a yawn with Chloe quickly following suit. "I think we should call it a night Chloe and try and get some more sleep" he advised.

"Yeah we can talk more tomorrow after you find your friend" Chloe agreed before getting up and headed back to her bedroom.

Clark washed out of the two cups they had used and then turned off the lamp before lying back down on the sofa, closing his eyes he slowly fell back asleep hoping tracking down Raya would prove an easy task. In her bedroom Chloe lay back in her bed and let out a sigh, she wondered if she had found anyone to love before she died in the future Clark now remembered. Rolling onto her side she closed her eyes and waited to fall asleep, hoping to get some more information out of Clark in the morning.

+TWRI+

(Metropolis, Queen Tower)

Oliver Queen also known to the world as the vigilante the Green Arrow stood on the roof of the Queen Tower wondering what his next move should be in discovering just what his old childhood nemesis Lex was up to, the information he and his allies had dug up painted a very ugly picture. Strangely enough all three of his allies had told him he could find another ally in this city but so far he'd found nothing as each had refused to tell him who this supposed ally was, clearly each was referring to the same person but didn't want to give away the person's identity. He'd keep his eyes open but for now he had other things to deal with, Lex was up to no good and capturing people with special abilities and that could not be allowed. They had to track down the labs these people were been held in and then they could shut them down, but they had to be careful how they went about gathering their intel as Lex was not to be underestimated.

Soon he planned to make it known Green Arrow was in Metropolis, make Lex focus on him so his allies could act undetected. Heading back into his loft he moved to a map of the city and wondered where Lex was hiding the labs where he kept these people, he dreaded to think what kind of experiments Lex was exposing them to. Lex was evil and had been even as a kid when he had witnessed Lex pummel his so called friend Duncan Allenmeyer almost to death, granted he and his friends were not blameless in what happened but Lex bore the main responsibility for Duncan stumbling into a car after the beating going full throttle which in the end killed him. Evil like that had to be contained; he was determined Lex never gained real power. He was thankful that whatever super powers Lex had possessed during dark Thursday were gone, and he still had no answers as to how Lex had broken into the Pentagon moving faster than anyone bar one of his allies and possessing powers no one had shown before. He'd already had Lex captured and questioned on that matter but he'd gotten no answers, and the fact Lex had been shot by one of his overzealous guards showed whatever powers he'd possessed before had thankfully gone by that point. Whether Lex actually did not remember what had happened to him during dark Thursday was still up for debate, deciding to call it a night he headed for his bedroom as he had a board meeting in the morning.


End file.
